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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24946918">Quarantine isn't so bad</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/PhantomWriter13/pseuds/PhantomWriter13'>PhantomWriter13</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Actor RPF, Chris Evans - Fandom, Real Person Fiction</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Anxiety, Best Friends, California, Current Events, Dark Past, Eventual Relationships, Eventual Smut, Explicit Language, F/M, Falling In Love, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Help, Male-Female Friendship, Occasional fluff, Quarantine, Slow Build, Smoking, Summer Love, Summer Romance, Texting, Unhealthy Habits, slow build going down hill pretty fast xD</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-06-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 08:28:08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Explicit</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>22,730</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24946918</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/PhantomWriter13/pseuds/PhantomWriter13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>If you asked Jane, she couldn't even give you an explanation that wouldn't sound like a bad rom-com. Yet here she was chilling on a sofa at Chris Evans' California home. You might be wondering how she ended up there. It's quite easy: being German who was only in Los Angeles for work and study related things when suddenly the world goes to quarantine with no flights back home, no hotels allowing her to stay and a colleague/ friend arranging a place to stay.<br/>________________________________________</p>
<p>Besides the OC's I know no one personally and I do not own them in any way (that would be weird)</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Chris Evans (Actor) &amp; Original Female Character(s), Chris Evans (Actor)/ Jane Winter (Original Female Character), Chris Evans (Actor)/Original Character(s), Chris Evans (Actor)/Original Female Character(s)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>53</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Friends Support</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This is my first public fan fiction. Feel free to leave feedback! It's much appreciated :)</p>
<p>I tagged it as "slow build", but we will see what will happen. However, this will contain mature content rather sooner than later, I think. </p>
<p>English is not my native langue and this fic is not beta-read. To put it short: I'll do my best :D</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Jake's phone rang obnoxiously as he was trying to organize his deadlines. "Jane?" he picked up the phone. "Hey Jake. I really need your help. There's no flight leaving the states and I have to leave the hotel in a moment. They are literally kicking me out. I don't know what to do, Jake." the woman on the other side sounded devastated and on the edge to tears. The lockdown taking place tomorrow was slightly freaking her out now. He took his glasses off, placing them on his desk. With a sigh he rubbed over his face. Jake had told her to call if something wasn't working out, but he hadn't expect things going downhill so fast. "Jane, relax. I've got you. You won't end up on the street, okay? In the worst case scenario you can crash on our couch a few nights." he spoke calmly and was relieved hearing Jane's breathing calming down. She was capable of handling her anxiety very well, but it was obvious that an uncertain situation like this was testing her limits. "Alright, I'm going to call a few people and see if they'd let you stay for a while." he offered smiling hoping the positivity carried through his voice. "Okay. I'll also pay rent and groceries, clean up. Whatever it takes." Jane started, clearly nervous no one would let her stay. "Shhh. Don't worry about that now. I'll call you back as soon as I know something." Jake said and shortly after they ended the call. </p><p>Meanwhile, Jane was busy collecting her things to put them neatly into her suitcase. After a few minutes, she sat down on her bed and checked her phone. Her face fell a little when she saw she had to leave the hotel within the next 30 minutes. Jake also hadn't called her back yet. The young woman grew nervous again, but decided to just check out. On the way to the front desk she texted her friend she was going to check out and go shopping. Her trip wasn't going to be longer than a week let alone extended to an unknown number of days or weeks so she didn't pack many clothes and toiletries. </p><p>Just when she walked out of the building her phone vibrated in the pocket of her jeans. The caller ID informed her it was Jake and she quickly picked up. "Meow." Jake chuckled hearing Jane's way of picking up the phone when it wasn't a business call. "Hey, Jane. I've got good news for you. A friend of mine is currently with his family in Massachusetts, so his place here is free. He said you could stay there until you can go home." The brunette was speechless for a moment. "Really?" was the only thing she was able to ask. "Yes, really. He doesn't expect you to pay rent or anything. All you have to take care of is groceries and other things you need. Get a swimsuit if you want to use the pool. It’s heated. Oh, and I own an emergency key you can borrow for your stay. Just stop by at my house later and I'll give you the address and explain which guest rooms you can choose from and where you can find everything." he explained</p><p>A giant wave of relief washed over Jane hearing the news. "Thank you soooo much! Your friend as well!" she replied and ended the call shortly after. With the confirmation she wouldn’t have to sleep on the street or her rental car she felt lots of weight dropping from her shoulders. After she put her suitcase into the trunk and dropped her handbag on the passenger seat she made her way out of the parking lot. She spent a couple of hours shopping for a few more outfits including some for warmer days. It had been cloudy the past days, but Jane was sure the temperatures would rise rather quickly within the next couple weeks. At two in the afternoon she arrived at Jake’s house. Jane parked her car in the driveway and walked up to the door where she rang the doorbell. Just a moment later a little girl with blond curly pigtails opened the door and greeted the older with a cheerful “Hello!” Jane couldn’t help the giant smile forming on her face with this cutie standing in front of her. “Hey there! Is your dad at home? He asked me to pick something up.” she explained and the little girl ran down the hallway shouting for her dad. Jane giggled and waited patiently at the door as she didn’t want to come off rude and social distancing was a thing now. A moment later Jake appeared at the door. He gave her a friendly smile and invited her inside. “Are you sure about that? I was just out in public and touched things. Wouldn’t want you guys to get sick.” she spoke with a great amount of concern in her voice. “Yes, I am sure. We’ll just keep distance inside the house and you can wash your hands. I know you well enough to know you follow the government's advice on how to quarantine.” he said and once again invited her inside.</p><p>They knew each other from work and as Jane was a working student from Germany Jake kinda saw it as his responsibility to be a friend to a young foreigner who had never been to the USA before. The gratitude the young woman felt was endless. Jake had indeed been a very good friend the past week and without him she’d be lost right now. Jake introduced her to his wife and his two children. It was a beautiful little family and he seemed to be one of the most devoted and loving fathers in the world. Myla - Jake’s wife - made coffee while Jake took Jane to the back porch. “Oh, wow, this backyard is beautiful.” The brunette exclaimed while Jake offered her to sit. “Isn’t it? Myla put a lot of thought and love into it. And lots of work.” A smile formed on her face remembering the times she was able to spend some time gardening. “I bet she did.”</p><p>“Anyway, this is the address, the passcode for the security system and these are the keys as well as the remote for the garage.” He said while slipping a piece of paper and a couple of keys across the table. Then he continued, “The remote will open the right garage door, which is where you can park your car if you don’t want to park it outside. The street is a little narrow, so you might want to consider it. The round key is for the guest house where you can literally choose from any bedroom you want as nobody else is there at the moment.<br/>
The squared one opens the main house which you actually shouldn’t need, but just in case and so I won’t lose it I’ll keep it on the keyring. But you can use it, if there’s something missing like towels or dish-soap or whatever.” Jake also explained where she would find the controls for the pool and the hot tub, how the security system worked and a few other things. Jane nodded her head in a silent acknowledgement. She also noticed a phone number on the note with the address. “Whose number is this?” she asked curiously. “It’s the owner’s. Just thought it might be easier if there's something urgent and you can’t reach me. There’re quite a few important deadlines coming up, so I’ll probably be in video conferences all day. But, please, don’t hesitate to message or call me if you need to, okay? I just want to make sure you can enjoy your unplanned stay as much as possible.” he told her with so much sincerity causing Jane to have an emotional moment. “Thank you, Jake. It means a lot to me… and makes me a little emotional.” she answered with a giggle towards the end while a few tears were pooling in her eyes. </p><p>They talked a little more about this and that until they emptied the coffee. Jane said her goodbye’s to everyone and left her friend’s house with a very relaxed and grounded feeling she didn’t have in a while. On the way to her temporary home, she stopped at the supermarket for groceries. Using a bandana to cover mouth and nose, she quickly made her way through the shelves. People gave her weird looks as not many people followed the advice of a face mask. Jane wondered how the exact same people would handle the restrictions everybody would have to follow soon and slightly shook her head. Before heading to the cash register she decided treating herself to some ice-cream, wine and beer wouldn’t be such a bad idea. </p><p>It was around four in the afternoon when she arrived at the address Jake had given her. Once her car was parked safely in the garage, she grabbed her phone and typed a message to said friend <em>&gt;&gt;Dude, you could have told me I’d spend quarantine in the Hollywood hills…&lt;&lt;</em> Jake knew Jane always struggled to accept help and he knew exactly she would refuse to accept that one if she knew, who was kind enough to offer her a roof above her head for free. And also because he knew Jane was a huge Marvel fan. She didn’t seem like the crazy fan-girl type, but he would test the waters in the next few days. He had the decency to respond with a plain and simple shrugging emoticon which made the young woman giggle and roll her eyes at the same time. She got out of the car and closed the gate before opening the back door of the garage that lead onto the property. A beautiful front yard greeted her. It radiated peace and quiet. She took a deep breath which she exhaled slowly. Then she went to grab everything from her car. It was literally packed and it needed to be unpacked now. The suitcase, bags of clothing and stuff as well as the groceries she bought. Looking at the amount of things she just put next to the front door she had the slight feeling her stay would take longer than only two more weeks. After making sure her car and the garage door were closed and locked, she unlocked the front door of the guest house. She started to carry the groceries inside to make sure the ice-cream wouldn’t melt. It took her nearly an hour to put everything away and get settled in the room she chose. </p><p>As Jane didn’t feel hungry just yet, she thought having a look around and getting comfortable with her new surroundings would be a good idea. The sun was starting to set when she set her foot outside into the backyard, granting her a view to remember. “Wow…” she spoke quietly to herself. For several minutes she just stood there and watched the sun setting. The notification sound of her phone tore her from her meditative state. <em>&gt;&gt;Got settled? :)&lt;&lt;</em> it was a text from Jake. <em>&gt;&gt;Yes, I did. Just in the backyard marveling at the amazing view and the sunset. Seriously, Jake. This is amazing. And I feel a little bad I can stay here without paying rent or anything.&lt;&lt;</em> she typed truthfully and walked over to a seated area made of stone.<em> &gt;&gt;Good. I promise you, it’s absolutely fine. Just make yourself at home :) let me know if you need anything.&lt;&lt; </em><br/>
<em>&gt;&gt;Will do. Thank you so much :) &lt;&lt;</em> <br/>
<em>&gt;&gt;Don’t thank me ;) &lt;&lt;</em></p><p>Jake was right. After that message she got up and went back inside to grab the note, a beer, a sweater and a small blanket as it started to get a little chilly. She had full intention of thanking the person who let her stay at this amazing place. Jane got comfortable on a sun lounger she retrieved from the storage room. With the sweater hanging loose on her body, the blanket around her shoulders and the beer in one hand she saved the phone number of the gracious stranger before she typed out a short text to them. <em>&gt;&gt;Hey there lifesaver :) This is the stranger currently occupying your home at the west coast. Thank you so much for letting me stay here! Please, let me know if there’s a way I can show you my gratitude. ~Jane&lt;&lt;</em><br/>
Happy with her text she put her phone into her lap and sipped her beer while soaking up the tranquility. </p><p>Just when she was about to get up from her very comfortable position to go inside, her phone’s notification sound went off. <em>&gt;&gt;Hi :) No problem, at all! Jake told me you’re from overseas and can’t go home right now. Let me know, if you’re facing any problems or if you just need somebody to talk to. Chris &lt;&lt;</em></p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. The human voice is the organ of the soul</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thanks for the kudos :D </p><p>I haven't figured out yet how I want to layout the texting scenes. Or is it okay the way it is?<br/>Please, let me know :)</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The text made her smile and suddenly she felt strangely connected to her lifesaver whose name apparently was Chris. For a moment, she let her mind wander, wondering what she would have done if Jake hadn’t been so nice since they first met and if they hadn’t been friends now. Her mind would only allow one conclusion to this thought - she would be absolutely fucked.</p>
<hr/><p>A week had passed since Jane moved into this gorgeous house atop the Hollywood Hills. Occasionally, she texted Jake and other friends of hers or spend hours voice chatting with her best friend on the other side of the world, just like right now. “Girl, I’m serious, I feel like I was in a movie or something. The world is going down and I’m living my best life in a luxury home in L.A. with a pool, a hot tub and this amazing view that leaves me speechless every single time.” Jane explained making the other young woman on the other end of the call chuckle and playfully reply, “If you are going to start again how you feel bad living there for free and you don’t deserve this I’m going to drag you through the phone to slap you.” Both of them laughed. “I love you.” Jane stated after a moment of silence. “Love you, too. I’ll go to sleep now. Enjoy yourself, okay? And please stay safe.” “Okay, you, too. Sleep well, lovely. Bye.” </p><p>With a sigh Jane plopped down on a sun lounger. Mary was right, she really needed to stop overthinking the situation. When it wasn’t for the fact she was given this opportunity, it was definitely for the fact she was all by herself at night. Usually, she didn’t have issues with that, but then again she lived in a small apartment which she would simply lock before bed time and there were many other people living in the complex. Here however, she was alone and despite the security system - which she checked every single evening - and the other people in their houses around her she didn’t sleep that peacefully. Stupid traumas from her past. </p><p>Mindlessly, she scrolled through the conversation she had with Jake the other day. Something about it seemed odd, but she couldn’t put her finger on it. Out of the blue, he had asked her what she would do if she encountered a celebrity. </p><p>Jake: What would you do if you randomly met a famous person?<br/>
Jane: What do you mean what would I do? oO<br/>
Jake: Like, how would you react? <br/>
Jane: How should I react? They are normal people, like you and me xD <br/>
Jane: Why are you asking?<br/>
Jake: Just curious :) So you wouldn’t freak out?<br/>
Jane: No<br/>
Jake: Have you ever asked anyone for an autograph or a picture with you?<br/>
Jane: For myself? No. I once got the autobiography of Bud Spencer signed for my dad as a birthday gift. Does that count?<br/>
Jake: I guess not… <br/>
Jane: Jake, seriously, what is this about? <br/>
Jake: Nothing.<br/>
Jane: Right…<br/>
Jake: Have you met any celebrity before?<br/>
Jane: Yes, I have. With one I had a Whisky and with the other I ended up binge watching Netflix three days in a row. <br/>
Jake: Really???<br/>
Jane: Yes! Now, please, tell me why you are asking all these questions.<br/>
Jake: Okay! Sorry, just wanted to make sure you weren’t sarcastic. <br/>
Jane: I wasn’t. I don’t do sarcasm over text… usually… xP<br/>
Jake: Ok :) </p><p>Jake never answered her question properly. It wasn’t like him as they were very upfront and brutally honest with each other and it irked her so much she had kept trying to squeeze an answer out of him, without any luck. </p><p>She grabbed the book she started reading in the morning from the end of the lounger and continued where she left off. After what felt like barely ten minutes and was probably more than half an hour a text message came in. <em>&gt;&gt;Hi occupant! :D How are you? Everything’s okay over there? I thought I’d see if my house is treating you well ;) &lt;&lt;</em> She snorted reading the text from Chris and made quick work typing back <em>&gt;&gt;Hey Chris :) I’m good so far, the air became very clear since the lockdown. It’s beautiful. Unfortunately, I have to make breakfast myself as well as lunch and dinner. Other than that your house is treating me very good :) How are things over there?&lt;&lt;</em> A hearty laugh escaped Chris seeing Jane’s response. <em>&gt;&gt;Glad to hear that. Well, aside from having to cook yourself :P Things are good! At least we’re trying to stay sane :) Just got back from walking my dog and now my brother and I will play Mario Kart, but he’s taking forever getting a drink&lt;&lt;</em> Jane hadn’t expected him to get back to her so quickly and decided to put her book away to put all of her attention to the conversation with Chris. As she read over the text jealousy hit her twice. He had a dog and he was going to play video games right now. <em>&gt;&gt;Oooooh, you have a puppy x3 but hold on...what do you mean you are going to play Mario Kart without me?!? Not cool, Chris. Not cool.&lt;&lt;</em> She couldn’t hold back the smile while she typed the message and sent it. Technically, they were strangers, but it felt quite natural to text back so freely. <em>&gt;&gt;I’m sorry!! If you were here, you could join us :( By the way, we’ll probably come down in about two months or so. Depending on how things develop. My brother is going to move&lt;&lt;</em> Jane almost dropped her phone reading this. With the entire world basically hibernating she hadn’t expected to meet anyone aside from Jake in case of emergency. Now two months wasn’t that soon, but she always felt a little nervous meeting new people. <em>&gt;&gt;So we’re going to meet then?&lt;&lt;</em> was her response. She rolled her eyes at herself after sending this. Of course, they were going to meet. Otherwise he most likely wouldn’t have mentioned it. <em>&gt;&gt;Yes. Unless you’re going to hide in your room :P Which I hope you won’t :) &lt;&lt;</em> <em>&gt;&gt;Now that would be not only ridiculous, but also incredibly rude :) Looking forward to meeting you! Have fun gaming!&lt;&lt; </em></p><p>She returned back to reading until it was almost dark and she couldn’t make out the words anymore. Grabbing her things she made her way inside to get slowly get ready for bed. First she checked if the security system although she hadn’t made any changes the past days. The book eventually found its place on the counter top in the kitchen. Jane padded into her room and went about her evening routine. It was about 9:30 in the evening when she slipped into bed. It wasn’t unusual for her to go to bed early. Most of the time she would read fanfiction about her celebrity crushes until she was drowsy enough to fall asleep the second she put her phone aside, but today she didn’t feel like it. Snuggling deeper into the blanket she quickly drifted off. If everything came as easy to her as falling asleep. </p><p>Unfortunately, an uncomfortable dream startled her out of her sleep that she ended up sitting in bed panting and tears streaming down her face a couple hours later. It left her so upset she struggled to remember her whereabouts for a moment. Jane drew her knees to her chest trying to calm down. A moment later, she reached for her phone to see if Mary was already up. She had also sent a short text to see if Jake was still awake. Jane knew he usually put his phone into flight mode at night, so she didn’t expect him to get back to her. With no one responding a slight wave of panic washed over her. The remaining part of her mind which was still capable of thinking rationally knew she needed to talk to someone or at least hear someone speak to her unless she wanted to deal with this longer than necessary. She stared at the recent contacts displayed on her phone. Hesitatingly she opened the conversation of Chris and her. With still shaky hands she typed a short <em>&gt;&gt;Are you still up?&lt;&lt;</em> With a groan she let her head roll back against the headboard. She really didn’t want to bother him and partly hoped he wouldn’t reply. Ding. <em>&gt;&gt;Yep, just about to head to bed though. What’s up?&lt;&lt;</em> Jane paused unsure and a little bit ashamed of herself and the situation. <em>&gt;&gt;I had a bad dream. Anxiety is a bitch. Everybody else is asleep. Can we talk for a moment?&lt;&lt;</em> right after, before he has any chance to react, she sent another <em>&gt;&gt;Nevermind. Sorry. Good night.&lt;&lt;</em> Chris was all too familiar with anxiety and could only imagine how she felt right now. There was no way he would let her alone with that regardless of if they knew each other or not and dialed her number. It rang a few times before she finally picked up with a quiet and hesitant “Hi…” Hearing her voice for the first time made the corners of his mouth twitch into a tiny smile. “Hey there.” he said softly and paused for a brief moment before speaking again “Do you want to talk about it?” Oh, his voice sounded too good. It’s warm tone washed over her immediately easing her nerves. “No… not really. What did you do today?” she answered. Jane appreciated he decided to call, but she really wasn’t ready to talk about it with a stranger. “Okay. We were at mom’s for lunch and ended up staying for dinner. My niece wanted to play 10 Mississippi in the afternoon, so she, her brothers, my brother, my sister and I spend nearly 2 hours playing this game.” he explained almost a little too enthusiastic, which made Jane smile a tiny bit. Chris kept talking with full intention staying on the phone until she fell back asleep. He didn’t keep an eye on the time and eventually paused to see if she was still awake, but all he could make out was her even breathing. Smiling he whispered a “Good night.” before he ended the call. <em>&gt;&gt;I hope you have a good night :) &lt;&lt;</em> he sent after getting under the covers, but hated himself just a second later hoping he didn’t wake her up with that one. </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. in between truth and joy</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Weeee your kudos make me so happy :D &lt;3 Thank you!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>A balmy breeze came through open window gently running over the bare skin of Jane’s leg which stuck out from under the blanket. It softly pulled her from her dreams. Tugging her leg back under the blanket and snuggling a little more into its warmth. Her eyes slowly opened adapting to the early morning light. Lazily, the young woman rolled onto her back and stretched her body. This bed was a dream. Back home she only had a sleeper since her studio apartment didn’t offer that much space and the one at the hotel wasn’t that great either. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The events of the previous night started to flow into her mind. She cringed remembering the dream that aggressively tore her out of her sleep. A tiny bit of the emotions it caused were still nagging on her. Jane rolled out of bed and padded into the direction of the bathroom when she remembered the phone call with Chris. She stopped dead in her tracks, eyes wide with the realization she had fallen asleep on him. “Oh my God…” she mumbled and hurried back to the bed. Her phone was still lying next to the pillow where she placed it with Chris on speakers. Quickly, she reached for the device and unlocked it. The text he left her made her smile despite the slight embarrassment she felt. </span>
  <em>
    <span>&gt;&gt;I’m so sorry o.o I didn’t mean to fall asleep on you. But yes, I eventually did. Thank you! :) I hope you had a good night as well.&lt;&lt; </span>
  </em>
  <span>she texted him and returned back to her way to the bathroom. While going about her morning routine she kept thinking about his voice. It was so warm and soothing with a little bit of a Boston accent seeping through when he got excited. However, she had no idea she actually knew who it belonged to. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>After getting dressed and leaving her hair to air dry, she made coffee. Strong, black, steaming coffee just like every morning. While it was brewing she drank a large glass of water and went to get her phone. It showed several notifications. Mary sent a few messages, Jake texted and tried to call, Chris replied to her text and a few other people back home asked how she was doing. With her coffee filled mug and her pouch of rolling supplies, she made her way outside. Carefully Jane placed her Captain America mug on the outdoor coffee table and rolled herself a cigarette - barbaric habit. No one needed to tell her it was unhealthy. She was very much aware of it, but being an anxious person it tended to keep her at ease. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jane texted Mary, explaining what the dream was about and letting her know she was okay now thanks to Chris. Her best friend had the tendency to tease her whenever possible and when Jane mentioned her liking of his voice it furnished her a fit of occasion. </span>
  <em>
    <span>&gt;&gt;Perhaps he will make an erotic audio for you if you ask nicely. You know, like the ones you love so much ;D&lt;&lt; </span>
  </em>
  <span> Yes, this was the Mary she knew and loved dearly. </span>
  <em>
    <span>&gt;&gt;OMG you’re the worst xD I can’t randomly ask this poor guy for something so open sexually. We don’t really know each other!&lt;&lt; </span>
  </em>
  <span>she replied still laughing about her friends suggestion. </span>
  <em>
    <span>&gt;&gt;Cause this ever stopped you to flirt and hook up with random people… you’re so full of shit xDDD&lt;&lt; </span>
  </em>
  <span>Jane laughed out loud reading this message. Unfortunately, Mary was right and she knew her better than anyone else. </span>
  <em>
    <span>&gt;&gt;Shut up! xD You’re just jealous of my existing and healthy love life&lt;&lt; </span>
  </em>
  <span>she typed back and knew they could keep this up for a while. </span>
  <em>
    <span>&gt;&gt;I think you rather mean “sex life” xP x’D&lt;&lt; &gt;&gt;Oh fuck you xDDD&lt;&lt; &gt;&gt;I love you, too ;D &lt;3&lt;&lt;</span>
  </em>
  <span> Mary was the person in her life who kept her grounded the most. Having been friends for over a decade had its advantages. </span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>&gt;&gt;Good morning :) It’s totally fine! I’m glad I could help. Actually had a pretty decent night myself thanks :)&lt;&lt; </span>
  </em>
  <span>She read over Chris’ text. He seemed to be such a sweetheart and the worst his words and actions so far were so sincere it scared Jane a little. She wasn’t used to people being so nice to her. </span>
  <em>
    <span>&gt;&gt;Have a nice day! :) &lt;&lt; </span>
  </em>
  <span>Her response was held short because Jake started texting her again. He also seemed genuinely worried about her. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Drinking the last bit of her coffee she called him. “Good morning, Jane. You good? Your text from last night left me a little worried when I saw it earlier.” he spoke softly. “Meow. Yes, I’m fine. Chris was on phone with me until I fell back asleep.” she explained and was almost cut off mid-sentence “He was on phone with you?!” he inquired, suddenly very attentive. Jane paused before giving an answer. There it was again - this weird behavior of his she witnessed when he asked her about famous people. “Yes, he was… is there a problem with that?” she answered, but Jake dismissed it just like before. “No. Not at all.” The brunette rolled her eyes getting slightly annoyed. “You might want to tell the tone of your voice, Jake. I’m actually glad to be on phone with you and have my suspicious confirmed. Please, stop hiding whatever it is you want or need to tell me. You either tell me or you don’t, but then you also need to drop it and not keep tiptoeing around it.” She demanded in the softest and most empathic way possible. It was one of the things Jake admired about her. Jane would make her point very clear, set boundaries and claim her rights in a non-aggressive, but determined way. There was simply no way to go against it. He sighed as he leaned back on his chair. “Jane…”, he started but paused trying to find adequate words, “...Listen, you’re right. I’m sorry for acting so stupid. My only excuse is in the past people have disappointed me regarding this issue and while I’m responsible for this situation I put you in I keep having these insecurities in the back of my mind.” The young woman stopped him when he started to ramble. “Jake. Jake, shhhh. It sounds like we are talking about huge deal-breakers here. I fully understand how hard it is to trust after something like this and it’s absolutely fine to feel insecure because of it. No judging. It’s my daily struggle. Sooo… apparently, I’m currently staying at someone’s place who is famous, is that right?” “Yes. It’s not obvious, is it?” he dead-panned and the young woman on the other end chuckled. “Yeah, although it could have been just a random rich person. Wealthy background or something like that. Is it someone I’ve heard of?” she stated and grew curious with every passing second. Her mind was running several miles per hour trying to think of a Chris who she has heard of and who could possibly own this place. Bless her obliviousness at times, she couldn’t think of anyone. “It actually is. Which is, to be honest, one of the reasons I initially hesitated to call him and ask if you could stay there. I’m sorry, this sounded awful.” his words stung a little as she never gave him a reason to not trust her. “No. It’s fine. I appreciate your honesty and I doubt I would have handled it any differently in your position. Mind to tell me who that friend of yours is?” Jake took a deep breath after thanking her for her understanding. “It’s Chris Evans.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He expected all kinds of reactions, but hearing her laughing out loud wasn’t one of them. “What’s so funny about that?” he asked a tiny bit of irritation lacing his words. Jane was still giggling when she explained what was on her mind. “It’s just the irony of my life that keeps following me around. Jake-” another wave of laughter washed over her before she was able to finish her thought “I just had coffee from my Cap mug and texted him totally oblivious to who he is. Also, the world is on the brink of going down and I’m chilling at his place fully enjoying what could be the last minutes of my life. This is literally the definition of the stories of my life - I wouldn’t believe them myself if I hadn’t lived through them. It’s hilarious. Shit, I’m sorry, I should really stop laughing now.” she forced herself to stop laughing and wiped a little tear from the corner of her eye “No offence, but you're so weird.” Jake replied with a smile playing on his lips. “Yes, I know.” she shot back and they both giggled. Yet, Jake grew serious after a moment. “Promise me, not to harass him or anything, please.” “Why would I? Remember, just a person like you and me. You know, I’m a Marvel geek, I appreciate his work and I’ve probably seen one too many movies he’s starred in, but I wouldn’t place him on a pedestal. And besides he is a friend of yours who obviously trusts you enough to let a stranger stay at his place. I wouldn’t want to destroy your friendship by using your trust in me.” Her last sentence precisely hit Jake’s soft spot. The sincerity in her voice blew all his seconds thoughts away. “Thank you!” he said in reply the gratitude basically dripping from his voice, saying so much more than the words he spoke. “You’re welcome! But actually I am the one who has to thank you for blindly putting so much trust into me.” He chuckled softly “Obviously, it wasn’t a mistake. I need to get going though, still have to get a few things done before the online meeting in the afternoon.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>After they ended their call Jane lightly shook her head smiling. This was going to get interesting she thought and moved on to respond to all the other messages. Her day went on with studying and watching videos professors uploaded as substitute for lectures, participating in the afternoon meeting Jake mentioned and eventually discussing a few things with her boss. She was only a student employee, but her boss wanted to make sure she wouldn’t have to worry too much during these crazy times. He’d offered to not only keep paying her salary, but also cover the rent for her apartment in Germany. Jane had taken this job to pay the bills when she wasn’t granted student loans the previous and the current semester and it wasn’t a secret she sometimes worked extra hours alongside her full-time study. She was speechless when her boss offered her this much support. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>To let all of today’s events sink in and settle she found herself once again on the sun lounger just shortly after 7 in the evening with her book in her hands. The silence was disturbed by her phone chiming. At first, she decided to ignore it for now, but barely a moment later it chimed again. </span>
  <em>
    <span>&gt;&gt;Fancy a round of Mario Kart with us? :D&lt;&lt; &gt;&gt;Found out you can play together online and I have a Wii over there.&lt;&lt; </span>
  </em>
  <span>Jane couldn’t help but think he was cute. Smiling to herself she decided to treat herself to a game with the Evans’ brothers. </span>
  <em>
    <span>&gt;&gt;Sure. Just give me a second :) Where will I find the precious device?&lt;&lt; </span>
  </em>
  <span>She replied and brought her stuff inside. </span>
  <em>
    <span>&gt;&gt;You have the all the keys, right? The smaller one with the black paint unlocks the backdoor. When you walk in you find the tv and the console to your left. The remotes and stuff are in the right drawer of the sideboard&lt;&lt; </span>
  </em>
  <span>With the keys in her hand she walked back outside to follow Chris’ instructions. It felt strange to walk into his private area without him being there. Occupying the guest house wasn’t the same like being in here. For Jane home was something very personal and intimate. Every home had its own atmosphere and smell to it and so did this one. After setting a step inside she paused and took in the feeling it emitted. It was indeed very personal, but also welcoming and gave her a feeling of being at home.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Cautiously, she sat down on his sofa after plugging everything in, grabbing a remote and a wheel, because why not. Once she was logged into her Nintendo account she called Chris to make it easier to communicate. Putting the call on speaker and the device onto the coffee table in front of her, she let it ring. “Hey, Jane. Did you find everything?” Chris asked when he picked up. “Meow. Yes, I did and I’m already logged in. I’ll just need your username so we can connect the game.” she replied quickly slowly getting comfortable sitting on Chris’ sofa and excitement growing. She didn’t game with others in a while. “Meow?” Chris chuckled a little confused. Jane laughed quietly, “Oh, sorry. That’s how I usually greet people when I pick up the phone. I’ll try to use a normal hey in the future.” Chris also laughed, “No, it’s cool. You can keep using it. I just hadn’t heard anyone use that as a greeting before.” Truth be told, he actually liked hearing it. He also gave her his username and put her on speakers as well. Over the call, Chris introduced her to his brother which had both of them giggling. “Hey Scott! It’s nice to audibly meet you.” Jane said very cheerfully, which he returned. There was definitely potential for a friendship. “So boys, are you ready to go down?” she asked sweetly while selecting driver and vehicle. “We’ll go easy on you.” Chris said a little too serious. Apparently, he didn’t consider the possibility of Jane being a passionate gamer. The young woman just smiled to herself with a short “Okay.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>First race, first lap. The guys were actually and in all seriousness going easy on her. She however didn’t hold back at all and heard muttering from the other end. Her favorites were Chris’ “Oh shit… ” and Scott’s “What?!”. Both men lost the Grand Prix and sat in front of the screen back in Massachusetts pure disbelief painting their faces. “You’re damn good. Why didn’t you warn us?” Chris asked her still shocked about what just happened. “Chris, I did, but you decided to go easy on me anyway.” </span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. first time face to face</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Sorry for the delay. I noticed I was about to make a huge mistake and had to change almost the entire chapter.</p><p>Enjoy!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p><em>&gt;&gt;I need a boyfriend. like RIGHT. NOW. T_T&lt;&lt;</em> That’s it. That was the text Jane randomly sent to her best friend of over ten years. It has been two months - to be a little more precise almost 8 weeks - since she moved into her quarantine home. For the majority of the time she loved her current lifestyle. No social expectations, no attending lectures. She was able to get the work done at her own pace, speak to friends and her therapist via video chats, now and then sit down to game with Chris and Scott online, read books, do workouts, cook, watch Netflix and draw all kinds of things. But she started to miss the physical contact to people. </p><p>While cuddling was one of the highest priorities in her life, she also craved romantic attention and affection. It had been over a year since she was with someone. Some would argue that this didn’t sound like a existing and healthy love or sex life, but Jane counted self-induced love and pleasure into this category. In her opinion, it’s very important to love yourself and to know what your own body likes the most. She also had no issue to openly talk about it with either gender, partner or platonic friends. People, needed to talk about it more. But Jane really just wanted to be held and cuddled. Somebody gently running their hands over her back and arms, softly running their fingers through her hair while whispering sweet nothings into her ear. </p><p><em>&gt;&gt;Well, too bad the world is still social distancing #shrugging-emoji&lt;&lt;</em> Mary replied and Jane groaned in frustration before typing back <em>&gt;&gt;I demand a little more empathy! &lt;/3 Seriously, I’d give everything to just have someone hug me for a moment too long.&lt;&lt; &gt;&gt;Didn’t you say something about Chris coming over?&gt;&gt;</em> “Oh shit!” Jane abruptly sat up from chilling on a sofa inside. The past couple days were really hot and icky which is why she preferably stayed inside with the luxury of air conditioning. <em>&gt;&gt;I totally forgot about that O_O&lt;&lt;</em> she answered truthfully and jumped to her feet suddenly feeling the need to tidy up a little although there wasn’t much to tidy up as she kept everything rather organized. Just before lunch, Chris sent a text asking her to open the glass door and a few windows and also informed her he’d be there around three or four. </p><p>By one in the afternoon, she was sitting outside again. After lunch she decided to spend a little bit time reading in the sun and enjoy the remaining moments of being by herself. In between reading page after page the after-lunch-low hit her pretty hard drawing a yawn from her what felt like every minute. Eventually, she slid down on the lounger into a more comfortable position and pulling the hem of her black summer dress that had ridden up in the process back down. Within five minutes sleep pulled her into a peaceful nap. </p><p>Chris arrived shortly after three and started to get really excited. Dodger was already sitting by the front door tail fawning as he waited impatiently for his dad to hurry the hell up. Fishing the keys from his jeans he laughed “Hey bubba. Are you excited to meet her?” The cute pup whimpered in return begging for the damn door to be unlocked. “Yeah. Me, too, bub. Just don’t harass her, okay?” This time dodger let out a little yelp and literally darted inside as soon as the door finally opened. Talking to Jane over the past weeks and digitally spending time with her had him secretly impatient to finally meet her in person. Jake didn’t tell much about her and for some reason they never considered to video chat or face-time, so he had also no idea what she looked like. Chris closed the door behind him and dropped his duffel bag at his bedroom. After washing his hands, he was absolutely giddy with excitement which also caused a bit of anxiety kicking in. ‘Don’t make a fool out of yourself. Just be cool.’ Chris thought to himself while he made his way through his house. </p><p>Standing by the glass door to his backyard the sight in front of him had him smiling from ear to ear. Dodger was cuddled up against Jane’s front while she was napping lying on her side. Her arm was lazily draped over the pup and her long wavy hair sprawled out on the lounger. Chris leaned against the door frame not moving and watching for longer than would have been acceptable. Eventually, he pulled his phone from his pocket and walked a little closer to snatch a photo. They were just too cute not to. While walking inside to grab a bottle of water from the fridge he sent said photo to Jake with the text <em>&gt;&gt;Dodger approves.&lt;&lt; &gt;&gt;Aww, look at them. Your pup is such a flirt though :P&lt;&lt;</em> Chris chuckled <em>&gt;&gt;He really is. I literally haven’t spoken to her yet. Arrived like 15 minutes ago, but you see Dodger is getting all the attention&lt;&lt;</em> he replied and Jake typed much faster than he usually did <em>&gt;&gt;Are you telling me you took this pic without her knowledge??? o.O God, Chris. Don’t creep her out! This precious young woman has been through a lot already. Surely doesn’t need you to be stalking&lt;&lt;</em> Chris almost choked on his water<em> &gt;&gt;WTF Jake O_O I’m not stalking her. I never meant to. But what do you mean she’s been through a lot?&lt;&lt; &gt;&gt;That’s not my story to tell, dude&lt;&lt;</em> After this the conversation dropped, but Chris decided to share the picture in the family group chat. The entire Evans clan was curious who the mysterious woman staying at Chris’ place was. </p><p>Jane had woken up from her nap and snuggled with Dodger for another minute or two before getting up to greet Chris. In the meantime, the pup went off to explore the yard making sure everything was still at its place. She silently walked up to the sliding door seeing Chris typing away on his phone with a stupid grin plastered on his face. With a smile herself a very soft “Hey.” came from her, drawing Chris away from his phone. “Hey. I’m sorry we woke you up.” he apologized and stood noticing the young woman in front of him wasn’t much shorter, probably not more than 3 inches. “Don’t worry, you didn’t. It’s nice to finally meet you in person.” she replied in a friendly tone. Chris took two hesitant steps towards her “You, too. Umm, do you want to social distance while I’m here or do we seal this meeting with a hug? I promise, this would be an exception. Otherwise, I always social distance.” Jane laughed in response leaving a confused look on the actor’s face. “I don’t think anyone has ever been so desperate to hug me.” she teased him and closed the distance between them wrapping her arms around his wide shoulders. His laugh was music to her ears and made her laugh as well. </p><p>Chris Evans was definitely a hugger. He quietly hummed before very slowly pulling away from. “You smell great.” he suddenly said, a smile on his face. Actually, Jane hardly blushed and yet here she was with a small blush creeping up her neck. Not turning down compliments was one of the hardest tasks for her. When she finally won the battle with herself a “thanks” left her lips. Her awkwardness was oddly cute making Chris’ smile grow bigger. “You’re welcome.” he replied and suggested to go and talk outside. It was a nice sunny and not too hot afternoon in LA, so it just made sense to soak up the sun. “Hold on, I’ll go grab a beer. Would you like one?” Jane asked looking over her shoulder walking into the direction of the guest house. “Sounds great!” Chris answered. </p><p>Jane hurried inside and got two beers from the fridge. Chris watched her walking towards him when she came back. A huge smile decorated her beautiful face. She stopped standing close to the outdoor table he sat at and hooked one bottle to the other holding them in one hand. Tapping her heel against the bottom of one the cap came off and she handed the now open bottle to the very much impressed man looking up at her with big eyes. “Thank you, beautiful.” he said slowly getting over her neat trick. Jane picked up the cap and shot him a smile. Opening her bottle with her lighter she held it close to Chris “To quarantine life.” she announced and he clinked his bottle against hers “To quarantine life.” he repeated smiling. </p><p>There was a moment of content silence upon them before Jane spoke up “How was your trip? Where’s Scott?” She noticed how Chris curiously eyed the label “It’s german. Gives me a sense of home.” she added before Chris answered her questions. “It was a little long, but good. We drove here -” Hearing they went on a road-trip here sparked her interest “You didn’t! That’s so cool. I’ve always wanted to do a road-trip, but didn’t have the chance to yet. Shit, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt you.” “It’s okay. Sometimes it happens to me as well. I get so excited I act like I complete idiot.” he admitted making both of them laugh. “Scott’s packing boxes with his boyfriend. They’ll stay here a few nights, if you don’t mind.” Chris informed her and was confused when she started to laugh. “Chris, this is your place and we’re talking about your brother including his partner. That’s really not my decision to make. But if it makes a difference or if it makes you feel better, I don’t mind at all. --- By the way. Thank you for letting me stay here. I honestly don’t know what I’d have done if it wasn’t for you.” Jane felt a little anxious as this confession meant vulnerability she wasn’t ready to show yet. It also made her awkward because she never knew if the person in front of her would be okay with it.</p><p>“It’s no problem at all. I feel awful about leaving this place empty so often.” Chris explained.  Jane tilted her head in confusion not understanding how letting a stranger stay here would be any better. “Hm, I don’t see how me as a stranger staying here makes it any better. After all, I could have been a crazy fan or something.” Chris tensed a little at her words. For whatever reason it never came into his mind that she could have known who he is. All the times they spoke on phone it seemed so natural to talk to her. She never once mentioned something about him being a famous actor or Marvel or anything of this sort. “Chris, relax. Besides Jake and my best friend no one knows where I’m staying. Everyone else didn’t get more than the info I live rather decadent during this COVID nightmare.” Jane tried to ease the tension again and shot him a wink. “I’m planning to cook a traditional german dish for dinner. How about that?” she asked getting up from her spot and waited for his answer before walking off to get started. “Count me in! You can use the kitchen in the main house if you want. Let me know if you need help.” he replied and eventually smiled at her with the last bit of tension falling from his broad shoulders. </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. cherish the moment</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>So far this is all fluff and cuteness, but I feel like the juicy stuff is going to hit us like a high speed train. <br/>I gotta admit, parts of my life influenced this story</p><p>As always, I love every comment, subscription and kudo &lt;3 <br/>You guys keep me going writing this nonsense :D <br/>Thank you!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Dodger followed the young woman inside. It seemed he knew exactly what she was up to. “Hey there cutie.” She said while taking the ingredients from the fridge putting them into her little shopping basket. The adorable pooch sat close to her watching with his tongue slightly hanging from his mouth. He looked like he was smiling widely at Jane. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Before taking the basket to walk over to Chris’ kitchen she decided to text Mary </span>
  <em>
    <span>&gt;&gt;I’m doomed xD&lt;&lt; </span>
  </em>
  <span>The younger immediately replied </span>
  <em>
    <span>&gt;&gt;That good, huh? ;D&lt;&lt; </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>&gt;&gt;Better. I hoped I wouldn’t like the way he smelled or talking to him face-to-face :’D&lt;&lt;</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>&gt;&gt;So your inner slut is trying to gain the upper hand? xD&lt;&lt; </span>
  </em>
  <span>Jane laughed at her friend’s message. “Dodger, I swear she is the worst.” she talked to the pup who just tilted his head in confusion. </span>
  <em>
    <span>&gt;&gt;No, she isn’t, so fuck off xD&lt;&lt; &gt;&gt;Uh huh, right x’D&lt;&lt; &gt;&gt;Sometimes, I really hate you xD&lt;&lt; &gt;&gt;No, you love me xD we both know that&lt;&lt;</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Dodger never left her side, walking just a little ahead, coming back and walking in between her legs which made her giggle “Dodger, be careful. I don’t want to trip over you.” Jane said and the pup barked happily jumping as if he tried to snatch something from her basket. Chris looked up from his laptop hearing both of them coming closer. Smiling he shook his head at how smitten Dodger was with the beautiful German. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jane placed the basket on the counter and caught Chris watching when she looked up. “Just take a picture, Evans, it’ll last longer.” She remarked with a wink. He loved her playful sass, but two could play this game. Smirking he shot back “Maybe I already did.” “Creep.” That made the man laugh out loud so hard he almost fell off the outdoor sofa. She enjoyed hearing his laugh and wasn’t able to wipe off the smile on her face. Once, he finally calmed down she asked what she intended to ask before their little banter took place “How many people are we going to be for dinner? Just you and me or are Scott and boyfriend joining us as well?” “Hold on, I’ll give him a call.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>While Chris was on the phone, she started to unpack everything and planned out what to start with. “Jane?” he tried to get her attention while she had her back towards him “Chris?” she replied to let him know she was listening while collecting the utensils she would need. “They’d love to join. However, Scott asked me to come over and help with a few things. Is it okay if I leave Dodger with you?” he explained, closing his laptop. She turned around to face him “Yeah, sure. No problem. Before you leave: Is there anything you guys prefer not to eat or any allergies I should know about?” “Nope. What are you actually making?” he asked picking up his wallet and the car keys from a counter nearby. “Dinner.” was her response and she innocently looked at him with a smile spreading on her face. “Alright, alright. See you later!” “See you and be safe!”  At the front door, he also said goodbye to Dodger by scratching him behind his ears. “Be a good boy.” he spoke softly and left. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Chris arrived within a few minutes. Scott and his boyfriend were putting the first few boxes into a truck when the older Evans brother parked his car next to it. Chris was still mesmerized by the young lady sitting back at his place and it took only a look for his brother to notice their first meeting must have been pretty good. “That bad, huh?” the younger Evans asked making Chris belt out a laugh. “You’ll love her. She’s cooking german for us.” he replied while they walked up to Scott’s old apartment. Scott just had to continue to tease his older brother about it, “Did you pay her or something? I can’t believe she would voluntarily cook for a dork like you.” All three men laughed and carried on with their tasks. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Meanwhile, Jane got busy preparing dinner. It was actually the first time she made this dish herself, but she used to watch her mother countless times while cooking so she was confident it would turn out great. To prepare the dish was time consuming, so she actually hurried to be done in time the guys would get back. Dodger was basically glued to her side, staring up at her with the cutest face possible. Occasionally, he would let out a small whimper begging for her to drop something for him. She giggled at his antics and eventually cut a small piece from the thin beef slices feeding it to the fluffy cuteness next to her. “But don’t tell your dad, okay?” The little yelp she received in response made her laugh. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>A few hours later, the three men arrived. When Chris unlocked and opened the door a waft of whatever was cooking engulfed them. “Oh wow, this smells amazing!” Zach stated and earned agreement from the other two. They got to the kitchen and they found her standing at the oven, a dish-towel hanging over her shoulder, stirring something while slightly dancing to the music playing. “Scott!” she exclaimed when she spotted them and rounded the cooking island. “Jane!” he returned equally enthusiastic before wrapping her into a hug. Zach also got a hug. “You look amazing!” Scott noted while taking her hand and making her twirl. She giggled “Thank you! You don’t look so bad yourself.” When she turned her attention back to the stove she caught Chris attempting to steal a bite “Christopher Robert Evans, you should consider if you really want to do this” she said bluntly causing him to freeze, a tiny blush creeping up his neck and the two love birds to go “Ooooooh.” followed by a short moment of pure silence. “Damn. She used your full name without hesitation. Mom would absolutely adore her.” Scott eventually added and Jane suggested they’d go and sit down a few more minutes before dinner was ready. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jane came outside, cutlery in her hand. “Would you like to eat here or inside?” she asked with a sweet smile and everybody agreed to just eat outside. When she placed the cutlery on the table Chris spoke up “Do you need a hand?” “No, thank you. Just be excited for delicious food.” she replied walking back inside. First she returned with a bottle of german beer for each of them, before coming back a second time with four plates, two in each hand. “There you go.” she said placing the hot meal in front of everyone. Jane sat down across from Scott and next to Chris saying “I hope you’ll like it.” “Thanks, gorgeous. What is it?” Scott asked curiously and had the young woman blush a little at his nickname for her before she answered “Beef roulades, stuffed with pickles, onions, bacon and mustard. Potato dumplings, red cabbage and red wine sauce. It’s a typical german dish.” “And you made this all by yourself?” Scott’s boyfriend chimed in making her nod in response. “Now, stop talking, start eating.” she said laughing and picked up her cutlery. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Dinner was a mix of a dozen compliments about Jane’s cooking skills and utter silence. The silence was so peaceful and also satisfactory as it was the greatest proof she could have gotten that the boys loved their meals. That was when she realized how much she missed face-to-face interaction with people. She more than often loved being alone due to feeling pressured by all the social expectations put on her, but this very moment there weren't any expectations. She didn’t feel pressure to meet a certain standard of how she had to behave around people she just met. She felt like being at home. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Totally lost in thoughts staring off into the distance, she didn’t notice how Scott and Zach started to clean up the table. There was also no reaction when Chris said her name several times. When he softly put a hand on her shoulder giving it a gentle squeeze he finally got her attention. Her head turned into his direction facing the handsome man looking at her with a smile. “Sorry, I was distracted for a moment.” was her apology, making Chris laugh in return. “You were thousands of miles away. What were you thinking about?” he placed his arm on the backrest of the chair she sat on. “Nothing really. Just recalling and processing today’s events.” “Okay. By the way, thank you for dinner. It was amazing.” he spoke softly. Jane slightly chuckled “It’s the least I can do in return of you letting me stay here.” “No, no, no. We talked about this before. I don’t expect anything in return. You know that.” he shot back. Mid sentence his warm hand landed on her shoulder blade his thumb drawing tiny and lazy circles. Jane however felt it before it even made contact with her body. While hugging people was not an issue, all kinds of other body contact required her to warm up a little first. After a moment she shifted a little successfully making him drop his hand. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>When Scott and Zach came back the four of them spend a little bit more time talking and getting to know each other before Zach announced he was sleepy and would call it a night. Scott joined him, but not before pulling Jane into another bone-crushing hug “Good night, beautiful. And don’t do anything I wouldn’t do either.” Jane laughed “That’s what I should tell you! Good night, Scotty.” She also waved Zach good night and was once again left alone with Chris. “So. What would you like to do now?” he asked grinning. She started to wonder if it would ever leave his face and if his face didn’t already hurt due to smiling this much. While they both lit a cigarette Jane decided to ask about their drive here. It had been on her mind all afternoon, so curiosity laced her voice “Actually, tell me about your road-trip. How long did it take to get here?” Coming from a country that was slightly smaller than Montana she had absolutely no feeling for the distance relations. He thought for a moment recalling when they left “About two days. A little more actually. Driving with at least one more person makes it a lot easier. They drive when you rest and vice versa. Well, given they can drive of course.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, that makes sense.” she said and let her thoughts wander for a second “I always picture this to be very romantic. You just grab a loved one and spontaneously leave exploring the world with them. Of course, you made sure to create different playlists, from old school rock to Disney, so you never lack material to cringe worthily sing along to.” Both of them giggled at this part, before Jane continued to share her thought. “Sometimes, you’ll stop in the middle of nowhere just to take in the scenery. And if it’s your partner you’ll end up having the greatest sex of your life, because for once you don’t care about time and where you are. It’s just them and you and your love for each other.” She snorted when she finished talking “I’m sorry, this sounds really corny.” </span>
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  <span>“Yes. Yes, it does. But why don’t you make it happen?” the older one admitted and wanted to know what held her back making this idea a memory. It was no secret to Jane that the one and only Chris Evans was a huge romantic, but this question surprised her. For a moment, she studied his face while he waited for her answer. It held no judgement, only sincere curiosity. Never before anyone had looked at her like this. In this moment, Jane came to the conclusion he was one of the most beautiful people on earth and it had very little to do with his looks. “I haven’t found anyone yet, who would be capable of appreciating it as much as it deserves.” she spoke gently and looked directly into his eyes. A light breeze was going, the lights from the pool softly illuminating their faces as it was almost dark. They definitely had a moment here. A moment between two romantics. </span>
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<a name="section0006"><h2>6. confessions</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I'm sorry this chapter took a little longer to go online. I'm midst exams, so that's keeping me busy. College would be fun they said xD</p><p> </p><p>Anyway! I hope you enjoy this chapter :D</p><p>PS: Please, leave feedback and don't hold back doing so :)</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>A week had passed since Chris and Jane first met in person. While they took care of their work and other responsibilities during the day, they spend a lot of time together in the evenings. Sometimes gaming, usually just talking and enjoying each other’s company. Scott occasionally came over, but was mainly busy setting up his new place. </p><p>The day before Chris went over to Scott’s to help with a few last things and just spend some time with his brother. Just when they were playing a game of Scrabble and enjoying a beer curiosity got the better of the younger Evans. “So, what’s happening between you and Jane?” he asked straight forward. Chris almost choked on his beer and took a moment to recover, “What do you mean?” “Oh, come on! You two hit it off immediately and just yesterday, I saw you two very touchy-feely. You obviously like her.” A moment of silence fell over them, just the clicking noises of the tiles when Chris put a new word onto the board were audible. Scott knew his brother was collecting his thoughts and waited patiently while thinking about his next move. “I do.” The older one suddenly broke the silence and continued after taking a deeper breath “I might have a little crush on her, if that’s what you’re asking. It’s nothing.” “YOU MIGHT HAVE A LITTLE CRUSH?!” Scott exaggeratedly asked. He crossed his arms on the table and leaned forward looking his brother directly in the eyes or rather tried as the other kept averting his. “Dude, even Jake noticed when he came over to drop off the package for Jane yesterday.” Chris leaned back with a sigh crossing his arms in front of his chest and finally looked at his brother growing just a little annoyed “How is this a problem now?” The younger shot him a sympathetic smile “It isn’t. I agree, she’s amazing. Loved her the very moment we were on phone with her to play Mario Kart. I just want to know if there’s a chance she’ll be my favorite sister-in-law someday.” At this Chris huffed out a chuckle “Scott, it’s just a crush.” “Yeah, right.” was his brother’s sarcastic remark. “I’m your brother, Chris. I’ve seen all different kinds of crushes you had and this one is huge.” Chris actually didn’t want to hear this and tried to play it down. “This wouldn’t even have a chance to work out. I’m just too old for her. There are several years between us and actually also continents.” Scott chuckled “So you have thought about it.” It wasn’t a question. The brothers knew each other too well to not know what was going on. </p><p>Sometimes, Chris got anxious when the topic of potential girlfriends came up. He put a fair share of pressure upon himself by now as he almost desperately wanted to start a family. Grabbing his beer he got up from the sofa and left his brother alone with an unfinished round of Scrabble. It had been a while since he had such a bad crush on someone. A couple of minutes had passed when he heard the balcony door open behind him. “Chris…” Scott put a hand on his brother’s shoulder who just hummed in response that he was listening. “...since when do you care about an age-gap? How old is she anyway? In my eyes, she seems very mature regardless.” Chris hung his head in frustration when he realized he didn’t know the most basic information about his current occupant. “I don’t know. Maybe mid to end twenties?” he answered and watched his younger brother pull out his phone. “What are you doing?” “I’m going to ask her.” he explained and was already typing away when Chris interjected that it wasn’t polite to ask a woman about her age. <em>&gt;&gt;Hey gorgeous ;* I just realized I didn’t know any basics about you like your favorite color, favorite candy, birthday, age, shoe size, etc.&lt;&lt;</em> “Oh God, please, tell me you didn’t actually ask her.” Chris begged although he knew it was already too late. “Will you stop overthinking everything?!” the younger demanded. <em>&gt;&gt;Hiii hot shot ;* You’re right. We definitely need to change this! Black and red, jellybeans, December 28, 24, according to my sneakers my US shoe size is 10. What about you?&lt;&lt;</em> Jane replied shortly after. “Wow, she’s 24 years old.” Chris groaned when Scott dropped this information. The latter playfully slapped his brother’s arm “Stop this. We both know we would have opted for at least 28 or 29 and not 24. And will you look at me for a moment?” Reluctantly, Chris ĺooked at his brother with an annoyed “What?” “Don’t ‘What’ me. I know, you worry much more about what the media would say than the fact she’s only 24. Please, stop putting so much importance into pleasing the media and society. No one in your private circle would want you to deny yourself from happiness over something so silly. No one of us would judge you. Jane is the walking proof age says nothing about a person and actually no one would have to know. She doesn’t use social media, so you literally can’t find any information about her online.” Scott slightly rambled trying to pull Chris out of his anxious mind. “What if she thinks I was too old or-” he started to question, but was cut of immediately “Have you asked her? I don’t think so.” Scott pointed out matter of factly and added “If anything I get the impression she’s very oblivious to your crush on her.” </p><p>Scott wasn’t wrong. He had a brief conversation with her about whether she was seeing someone and she admitted laughing that she didn’t even get the hints and that people had to tell her directly into her face what was going on for her to see it. </p><p>The same evening, Scott suggested Chris should take her with him when he went back to Sudbury, so they could spend a little more time together. Also, the rest of their family would be happy to meet her even if Chris decided to keep his crush for himself. At first, the older Evans was hesitant to the idea, but was quickly convinced to ask her to tag along when he remembered Jane’s wish to go on a road-trip. He suddenly wanted to be part of this memory and went home rather excited to propose this idea to the beautiful German. </p><p>When he unlocked the front door he was surprised Dodger didn’t greet him like he usually did. All the lights were off which wasn’t that unusual, but there was still no sight of his fluffy child. Walking past the dining area Chris also found the leash hanging over the back of a chair - so Jane didn’t take him for a walk. The windows and doors were closed as well. After he checked his bedroom only to find it empty as well, he decided to check if the pup was with Jane. Quietly, he walked through his house over to the guest house and up the stairs. It was very quiet when he reached the landing. Padding over to the room Jane occupied faint noises of the tv became louder. The door was open, so Chris took the chance to peek inside. Jane apparently fell asleep watching a movie on Netflix with Dodger curled up at her side. Relief washed over him seeing both of them peacefully asleep. He tiptoed over to the tv to shut it off, so it wouldn’t wake either of them up. The cute pup unexpectedly woke up from the sound of the power-switch. He started to whimper excitedly knowing it was his dad. “Shhh, you’re gonna wake Jane.” Chris whispered and Dodger stopped right away, but a little too late. The young woman stirred awake slightly groaning “Chris?” She could barely make out his shape as it was dark already. Her voice sounded groggy, but still cute in Chris’ opinion. “Sorry, I didn’t want to wake you.” He replied quietly and sat on the edge of the bed. “I was looking for Dodger and found you two asleep. Just wanted to shut off the tv.” he explained while he gently scratched his dog behind the ear. Jane shifted a little, snuggling against the pup “It’s okay. How was your evening?” </p><p>When Chris didn’t response she gently poked his shoulder as she was unable to see his expression to determine if he was just thinking our zoned out completely. She didn’t know he was actually trying to sort his thoughts and figure out which things he wanted to share and which he wanted to keep for himself. “Sorry. It was good. Would you like to come to Sudbury with me next week?” he blurted out and silence fell over them once again. Jane was instantly awake, but didn’t know what to say having a million thoughts inside her mind all of a sudden. Reaching over she turned on the small lamp on the bedside table. She needed to see his face for this conversation. All of them flinched a little with the sudden change of brightness in the room. “Come again please.” she requested with an unreadable expression on her face. Chris’ anxiety went through the roof. He started fidgeting and his leg started bouncing. When her hand came to rest on his lower arm he almost jumped. “Relax. You just talked so fast I want to make sure I didn’t misunderstood anything.” she spoke softly. He took a deep breath before repeating himself. “I was wondering if you would like to come to Sudbury with me. You said you always wanted to go on a road-trip and I’d have a travel buddy on the way home. Scott is staying here a little longer.” Jane’s bluish grey eyes bore into his. She was surprised and somewhat speechless. This to-do on her bucketlist meant a lot to her and having Chris asking her to go with him was a big deal while he always prefered and loved to stay private. “Are you sure? I mean, it would be amazing and I’d love that, but I don’t think it would be a good idea.” Her words stabbed right into his heart, but he didn’t want to give up on making it happen. He knew pushing her into something would just make her withdraw even more, so giving her space to think about it was his only option. “Just think about it, okay? You can take your time let me know whenever you want. It’ll be 100% fine if you decide against it.” he said with a tiny smile that wouldn’t even reach his eyes. The young woman nodded her head in response and after that the actor announced he was going to go to sleep as well. </p><p>Jane was left by herself when Dodger decided to go with Chris. After shutting off the small lamp, she was staring into the darkness. The pain in his eyes when she admitted she wasn’t sure was basically haunting her. She knew even before that he was very open with his emotions, but it didn’t seem to make sense why he would be so disappointed. Tossing and turning for a while she still wasn’t able to manifest a conclusion that would add up. After all, Jane was convinced she would go back home soon and - if not immediately, definitely over time - lose contact with both Evans brothers. Not that this is what she wanted, but staying in touch with people has never been her strength. </p>
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<a name="section0007"><h2>7. drown the anxiety</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Drink responsibly guys! </p><p>Thanks for reading, commenting and leaving kudos!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It took hours for Jane to find sleep that night much to Jake’s amusement when they were on Zoom to prepare an online meeting. The young woman was mostly just sipping her third coffee following Jake’s instructions. Usually, she would voice her opinion when she didn’t agree with him, but this morning it just wouldn’t happen. “Spill. What’s on your mind? You’re awfully inexpressive this morning.” Jake noted when their preparations were done. They had a few more minutes before their colleagues would join the conference. She sighed knowing he wouldn’t buy it if she just dismissed it with being sleepy, so she admitted “Just a little anxious and overthinking.” “Why’s that?” Jake apparently decided to be persistent this morning. “It’s stupid, really. But I’d like to focus on business now. Might share my thoughts later.” He respected her wish, but assured her she could always come to him if she needed to talk. </p><p>That day and the two following generally went pretty awful for the young German. A friend of hers who took care of her mail back home informed her that her dad was refusing to send her one specific document she would need for her student loans. It was the fourth time he didn’t send what she needed. There were also some issues coming up with attending exams as it was still unclear when she would be able to go home. Another friend of hers decided to give her a hard time, blaming her for not keeping in touch every single day. She was hurt by that as she thought her friends knew she was an introvert and sometimes disappeared for a couple of days to recharge. Mary had been very busy with her work and wasn’t able to be as supportive as Jane needed her to be. She wasn’t mad because she knew Mary was working her ass off to help her family financially during the crisis, but for once she felt a little lonely and lost with her thoughts. Her anxiety became almost unbearable knowing she didn’t sort her thoughts on Chris’ offer, yet. They hadn’t talked since that night and hadn’t seen each other either which was ridiculous living on the same property.</p><p>Jane spent several hours in front of the bathroom mirror, putting her hair into synthetic dreadlocks. She had her friend mailing them over, so she could go with her usual summer hairstyle. Actually, she preferred this hairstyle whenever she was too busy to deal with her curly mane every single day. When she had only five dreads to braid in Scott started calling her. She ignored it for now just wanting to finish braiding, but the younger Evans brother made this a difficult task as he basically spammed her with calls. Her phone was ringing again when she finished off tying the last install. “It must be important if you won’t even let me finish what I was doing.” she answered the call and Scott almost started rambling “Jane! Are you okay? Did you and Chris get into a fight? He won’t tell me why you haven’t talked to each other, but he’s also being obnoxious because of his anxiety. Did he overdo with a prank or just acted stupid? It’s okay, if he did. Just tell me. Or I’ll give you mom’s phone number and you can tell her.” Jane struggled to follow while Scott didn’t seem to stop talking for a moment. “Geez, Scott, chill. It’s fine. I’m fine.” she finally found her words and paused for a moment before she explained what was bugging her. “No, Chris didn’t do anything wrong. In fact, I’m the one who is acting stupid. A few nights ago, he asked me if I would be interested in going to Sudbury with him. So, anxiety is eating me alive. It’s telling me to not get too attached because it will only result in pain when I’m going back home and we’ll lose contact anyways.-” “Whoa, wait. What? Who’s gonna lose contact?” he had to interrupt her while starting to understand where this was going. “Well, you, Chris and I…” she answered hesitantly. The tone of what followed almost suggested he wanted to pull her through the phone. “Excuse me?! What makes you think we won’t stay in contact with you? Girl, there’s never been anyone like you beating our asses during Mario Kart. Mom’s asking about you every single day and also started worrying when Chris didn’t give any updates.” His little rant made her tear up. In combination with the constant problems she was facing with her family, she never felt worthy enough to be important to someone else. It was her family that always gave her the feeling of being a burden and whatever she did was never enough. “If anything all of us are going to miss you like hell. Who is going to team up with me to play pranks on Chris? Who is going to give me a hard time in a playful banter? Jane, you’re an amazing person. If this meat ball of my brother won’t put effort into making you visit us, I definitely will. And-” He stopped himself when he heard a quiet sob on the other end. “Hey gorgeous, now, don’t make me cry with you. What’s wrong? Was it something I said? Do you want me to come over?” </p><p>She took a deep breath in a pitiful attempt of calming herself down. “No, it’s okay. The past days have been a little rough aside from me overthinking tagging along with Chris. It’s just… I just don’t feel like I deserve any of this. Especially, my family never gave me a feeling of belonging somewhere. For the longest time, I had to fight on my own and you guys suddenly make me feel so - so comfortable and welcome. It’s what I imagine the feeling of family to be like. I suppose, it’s just a little too much at once for me to process.” With every confession she made, she felt more and more vulnerable. It wasn’t that she didn’t trust him, but she was always sceptical and it was hard to work through this. “Oh, sweety. I’m so sorry, I didn’t know you’d feel so overwhelmed. I actually suggested Chris could take you back home thinking it’d be nice to see some more of the country.” “Please, don’t apologize. You didn’t know.” Jane replied while drying her eyes. “Can I ask you a favor though? No, actually two favors.” Scott asked with a little bit of worry lacing his voice. “What is it?” “Please, reach out to us if you need to talk. We’re here for you. And do you think you can talk to Chris tonight or tomorrow? He’s literally all over the place.” “Yeah, of course. Thank you. I’m sorry I kind of avoided him. I’ll just tidy up my stuff and then go over to talk to him.” She said feeling a little less pressured, but still bad she left Chris hanging like this. “Thank you, gorgeous. Let me know how it went, okay?” “Will do. Bye, Scotty.” </p><p>Before she went over to see Chris, she grabbed a bottle of Gordon's Premium Pink Gin. Usually, she wasn’t the type of person to drink when feeling down or whatever. She also had never been drunk before. Tipsy sure, but never drunk, so she didn’t worry when she took the bottle and made her way over to the main house. In between the pool and the open glass door Dodger was sprawled out on the ground. It was still pretty hot despite it was almost eight in the evening. Jane stopped for a second to give her favorite fluffy friend a hearty belly rub. His tail started fawning when she told him how much of a good boy he was, but other than that he didn’t move a muscle. Walking through the glass door she was met by the beautiful sound of a piano. She got goosebumps at how well he could play. Chris didn’t seem to notice her and slightly jumped missing a note when Jane wrapped an arm around his shoulder hugging him from behind. She rested her chin on his shoulder whispering “I’m sorry. Please, continue.” It sent chills down his spine, but he eventually did as she asked. His head gently leaned against hers when she didn’t move away. After enjoying the music and being close to him for a little too long she brought the bottle into his sight. “Would you like to join me for a drink while I tell you I’ll go on the road-trip with you?” She asked quietly and smiled at him, when he suddenly turned to look at her in surprise. “You will?” He asked with his eyes wide. Jane just nodded her head and the next second was pulled into a bone-crushing hug. “I was so worried I scared you off. Fuck, I’m so happy you’ll come with me.” he rambled not letting go of her. She just giggled at his sudden excitement. “I’m sorry I ignored you the last couple of days.” Chris pulled away his knuckles gently stroking her cheek. While Jane was used to him being affectionate she wasn’t exactly used to this level, but decided to let it slip for now. “Don’t be. It’s okay. I mean, this was really out of the blue and I probably should have waited until morning.” She grasped his hand leading him over to his couch. “Do we need glasses for this or are we going for straight out of the bottle?” she asked turning towards him and holding up the bottle which was still in her left hand. The Bostonian chuckled and shook his head “Let’s safe straight out of the bottle for another time. I’ll go and get shot glasses.” </p><p>Once they were comfortably seated opposite each other on either side of the couch with a shot in hand Jane smiled at Chris “To the road-trip ahead.” He repeated her words and they clicked the glasses before knocking the hard liquor back. “Oh, this one is really good. I like the fruity taste.” the actor stated and refilled both glasses. Jane agreed, “Mhm, stuff to get drunk on.” Both of them chuckled. Jane felt the need to explain what happened the past days and why she disappeared. Chris listened intently even when she started to get worked up over her father being absolutely uncooperative and ranted about how she just wasn’t able to understand how family could be like this. What she told him also got him kinda angry. While he was very lucky to be very close with everybody in his family, he just wouldn’t see how anyone could abandon a strong, witty and smart woman like her. Meanwhile, they drowned two more shots. Jane admitted she actually didn’t want to talk about her family issues anymore and rather do something fun. Chris suggested a little game of Never have I ever. He blushed a little when Jane’s first response was to laugh out loud, but she eventually agreed that I could be fun. What started off rather innocent, soon turned into more juicy stuff letting the tension grow with each and every question.</p><p>“Never have I ever kissed more than one person in 24 hours.” Chris asked to which Jane took a shot. The surprise and curiosity was written all over his face. Jane on the other side was kinda amused and loosened up enough to shot him one right back “Never have I ever sent a sext.” A furious blush creeped up Chris’ neck when he reached for his glas. “Never ever have I been tied up during sex.” With a smirk she picked up the bottle to get a refill before knocking it back. On a sober mind Chris wouldn’t have dared to ask these, but he was lit enough to keep going. Her confessions turned him on rather quickly. Once or twice he shifted a little to get comfortable again before she continued on. She knew the one she thought of was kinda ridiculous, but she really wanted to tease him “Never have I ever wasted a cumshot.” Although they were both very much buzzed this particular question had him stop dead in his tracks. Her smirk only grew wider seeing the effect it had on him. Taking a deep breath and never breaking the eye contact he took his shot. “Never have I ever fantasized about someone in this room.” while this wasn’t true for him - there were a couple of times he just couldn’t help himself - he just thought it was only fair to tease her back. Neither of them moved, just looking into each other’s eyes in a silent staring contest. </p>
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<a name="section0008"><h2>8. the tension pops</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Sorry for the delay! </p><p>I hope you enjoy this chapter</p><p>As always thank you guys so much for leaving kudos &lt;3</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Jane slyly smirked at the man in front of her while their eyes stayed locked. “You’re so full of shit, Evans.” she declared chuckling and was about to reach for her shot glass, but instead Chris grabbed her wrist pulling her towards him having her crash into his front. There was barely a second for her to catch up what was happening when Chris had already guided her lips to his drawing her into one of the most sinful kisses they both have ever experienced. There was nothing sweet and soft about the way they kissed. Their inhibitions were long gone - probably right after the sixth or seventh shot. </p><p>“Hold on, baby.” he suddenly whispered against her lips as he wrapped his arms tightly around her middle before continuing to kiss her senseless. That nickname sent countless tingles to her core and she did as she was told. As soon as she was literally wrapped around his torso Chris got up with her in his arms moving his hands to her booty which he gave a heartily squeeze. Her surprised squeal was muffled by his lips still attached to hers, but his chuckle in return vibrated through their torsos. </p><p>While maneuvering them through his living room his lips moved to her neck. Kissing, nibbling, licking. A quiet sigh tumbled over her lips when Chris’ tongue licked against her pulse point and right after bit it gently. Goosebumps decorated her skin and the frequent shivers making her feel like there were fireworks exploding inside her. Her back slammed into the wall next to the front door and Chris grinded his hips into hers creating a frustrating amount of friction as both of them wore jeans. He growled while sucking a hickey right under her ear and pinned her harder against the wall making Jane gasp. The strength he used turning her on even more. One of Jane’s hands moved down his back and eventually it dipped under his shirt feeling his hot skin against her palm. She wanted to feel more of him. No. She needed to feel more of him. Grabbing a hold of the hem of his t-shirt, she tugged on it. Chris got the message and pulled it off with her help. For a second, Jane admired the tattoos on his chest before her eyes locked with his again. “I want to feel you.” the young woman whispered a little out of breath and her lips slightly agape. Chris crashed his lips back onto hers picking up where they left off before his shirt had to go. Their hands roamed each others bodies, exploring every inch.</p><p>Chris made quick work pulling Jane’s top off of her body dropping it mindlessly on the floor. He moved a hand between her back and the wall intending to undo the clasp of her bra. It was Jane’s turn to giggle while kissing along his neck. She usually wore bralettes and it was amusing how the handsome man felt around her back trying to figure it out. Slightly pulling away and making sure she wouldn’t fall Jane pulled the garment up and over her head. Once it was off and the young woman held on tight again Chris moved them across the hall Jane’s back hitting the bedroom door. His hand quickly found the door handle and the door slammed open. Kicking the door shut again with his foot he dropped them both onto the comfortable mattress of his bed but making sure not to squish her. With an arm wrapped around her back he moved her closer to the middle of it. His lips trailed down from her collar bone to her small perky boobs. Before the insecure thought about the size of them was able to work its way through Jane’s drunken mind she was distracted by one of Chris’ hands groping one and his mouth assaulting the other. The flicking of his tongue on her hard nipple made her bite her lip. When he decided to give it a gentle bite and tug he drew a quiet moan from her making him grin against her skin and his jeans becoming a little tighter. <br/>
Moving her hands over his shoulders and raking it through his slightly grown out buzz cut she tried to pull him closer the hair on his chest tickling her tummy when he moved further down her body.</p><p>When he reached the waistband of her jeans he placed a kiss right under her belly button and made quick work to pull her jeans down her legs. He didn’t waste any time and pulled the flimsy piece of nothing Jane called her panties down as well. She attempted to sit up to touch him, feel him as she started to get a little impatient. Chris, however, had other plans and pushed her back down with kissing her hungrily. He moved a hand down to her pussy his fingertips barely grazing her skin. In frustration of lacking enough friction she playfully bit his bottom lip. He enjoyed how bossy she could be without even saying a word. “Babe, chill. I want to enjoy this.” Chris whispered into her ear and dipped a finger into her wetness moving it agonizingly slow. “You can do that later. I want you right now.” she breathed undoing his jeans and slipping a hand right inside his boxers gripping his hard cock. He groaned feeling her soft hand wrap around his girth, his forehead falling onto her collar bone. His patience also started to wear thin, especially when she started to move up and down his length. Jane was already so worked up it was no problem for Chris to add another finger and picking up the pace making those little moans fall from her mouth more frequently. But the young woman wanted more almost begging “Chris, please. I want your cock inside me.” He almost didn’t believe his ears although he knew she wasn’t shy and prude he didn’t expect the introverted beauty in front of him to have such a dirty mouth in bed. “Fuck it!” he said to himself giving up on the idea to draw out the foreplay and moved away for a second to get a condom from his nightstand. </p><p>Jane watched closely when the Bostonian got rid of his jeans and boxers standing in front of the bed in his entire glory. It made her want to lick every inch of his body, her mouth watering when her eyes fell upon his cock. She secretly hoped she would get to give this incredibly handsome man a blowjob at a later point. Chris took in the sight in front of him taking his sweet time to step out of his pants that were pooling around his ankles. Jane was touching herself, drawing tiny lazy circles around her clit, pinching and rolling a nipple with her left hand. Finally, kneeling back onto the bed he took a hold of one of her leg kissing from her knee up to the junction of her hip. Moving further he took her hand and pinned it next to her shoulder. Her other hand was pinned to her other shoulder while he moved on top of her his actions becoming more needy with every passing second. Jane instinctively wrapped her legs around his slim waist when he grinded against her his hard length rubbing up and down her slit. He repeated this a few times nearly driving her insane before she took care of it herself by slipping a hand down in between their bodies and guiding him to her heated core. Sliding into her the feeling made both of them moan in unison. Neither moved for a second staring into each others eyes as if they wanted to memorize everything about this moment. Jane’s body was slightly trembling with excitement and impatience making Chris worry a little even in the heat of the moment. “Are you okay?” he asked quietly his voice a little lower than usual. “Perfect.” she replied the corners of her mouth turning up into a sly grin. With a hand cradling the back of his neck she pulled him down for a passionate and eager kiss. She moaned into the kiss when he finally started to pump into her picking up a rhythmic pace. </p><p>Holding on tightly onto his broad shoulders she eventually broke the kiss unable to keep it up with her entire body being on fire. Chris’ forehead came to rest on hers eyes shut tightly and his breathing heavy turning into groans when she met his thrusts in a certain way. “Shit, this feels so good” he muttered in between and pounded harder into her. Jane completely lost herself in the moment surrendering to the growing pleasure. It had been so long somebody else made her cum and she wasn’t going to let this chance slip. His breath hot on her neck sending shivers through her body she moaned desperate to come undone in his arms “Fuck me harder, Chris. Make me cum.” She really needed to shut up if she wanted this to happen. Leaning on one arm and the hand of the other on her mouth he looked straight into her eyes increasing the intensity further. The dominance suddenly radiating from him pushed the young woman closer to the edge. Her cries were muffled by the large palm on her face. While sinking her nails into his back creating a pleasurable pain for him she guided his hand from her face to her neck. As his hand slightly cut off her airways her eyes rolled back with the drastic increase of pleasure. “Look at me!” Chris growled which made her eyes snap open again. She barely choked out his name before tumbling into oblivion body shaking violently and clenching around him. He followed a few thrusts later, collapsing on top of her with a moan that could have made her cum again. </p><p>Neither of them moved, their slick with sweat bodies still mingled together. The only sound audible was their heavy breathing slowly returning back to normal. Tiny aftershocks were still rippling through Jane’s body making her slightly twitch. An almost inaudible whine left her when Chris started to lift off of her. Giving her a small peck he whispered “I’ll be right back.” She only hummed in response eyes closed still in the post orgasmic haze that mixed with the remains of the alcohol in her system. He gently stroked her cheek with his knuckles before finally getting up to dispose the condom. Coming back a moment later he opened a window and closed the curtain. When he climbed back into his bed he noticed Jane was already peacefully asleep. Pulling a light blanket on both of them Chris wrapped an arm around her waist snuggling against her side careful not to wake her. </p>
<hr/><p><br/>
Chris had woken up to Dodger whining in the hallway needing to be let out as soon as possible. The hangover made it a little difficult for him to get out of bed at first, but when he heard a little groan from the other side of his bed he was suddenly very awake as last night's events came rushing back into his mind. Another whine was heard in the hallway drawing his attention back to reality. Grabbing his boxers he quickly put them on granting his pup at least a little bit of decency before leaving his bedroom quietly. Once the back door opened Dodger raced out to take care of his business. Meanwhile, Chris decided to make some coffee while trying to sort himself regarding the sleepy beauty in his bed and some anxiety bubbling up.</p><p> </p>
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<a name="section0009"><h2>9. the morning after</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Sorry, sorry, sorry T_T </p>
<p>I wasn't able to focus on anything the past few days. It's been just too hot for anything here x.x</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>With a steaming hot cup of coffee in hand he watched his fluffy baby roaming the backyard and occasionally looking at him in a very disappointed way. Usually, he would let him know it was bedtime and not just leave him all by himself. “Are you mad at me now?” Chris asked to which the cute mutt just let out an annoyed huff and walked off.</p>
<p>While Chris hoped Dodger would support him through this episode of anxiety he was left alone with all sorts of questions flooding his mind. Did he overstep boundaries by initiating the hook up? Was she 100% okay with what happened? If not, why did she not say anything? Did she like it? Did she mean it when she said he could take his time later? Would she be awkward around him now? What if she didn’t want to come with him to Massachusetts anymore? His mom would definitely know something was up, so what would he say if she asked? When all these questions started to spin inside his mind he decided he would finish his cup of coffee and go for a run.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, Dodger had walked into the bedroom through the open window. He jumped onto the bed sniffing and licking Jane’s face. She groaned and tried to push the mutt away from her face. “Dodge, stop!” she managed in a sleepy voice. After a moment, he just settled into her side and Jane cuddled him with an arm wrapped around him. She gently scratched behind his ear while waking up a little more. With every passing second more and more of her night with Chris invaded her mind. She was still too sleepy to feel any embarrassment or awkwardness. Perhaps she wouldn’t feel any. Her body started to tingle instead with every passing memory of his lips on her, his touch, his smell, his dominance, the sounds he made, how his cock felt inside her. </p>
<p>Before rolling out of bed to make use of the bathroom attached to the master bedroom, she gave Dodger a little kiss on top of his head. On the way she picked up her panties as it was a tiny bit weird to walk around completely naked in the presence of the pup. Once she was back she also picked up her jeans from the floor folding it over her arm before leaving the room to face whatever feeling their situation might emit. Just outside the door she also found her bralette and her top putting on the latter. Jane started to feel a little tense walking through the quiet house. Chris usually listened to music in the morning unless he took Dodger for a walk, but said puppy was comfortably chilling on Chris’ bed. Finding the windows in the kitchen area open as well as the patio door she spotted him sitting on the outdoor couch. </p>
<p>Her soft “Good morning” grabbed his attention sending shivers down his spine, but also caused a small smile to appear on his face. “Good morning, beautiful.” he replied smoothly watching her lean against the window frame with nothing more than her top and panties on. A little blush decorated her cheeks. That nickname she appreciated, but never felt shy about had a totally different feel now. Both of them knew they needed to talk about last night and without needing words knew it would be better to have this conversation rather sooner than later. “I’ll grab a coffee.” Jane declared with a soft smile and turned on her heels to walk over to the kitchen granting Chris the best view of her butt in this little lace thong. He bit his lip enjoying the view a little too much before forcing himself to look away and taking a deep breath to calm himself down. </p>
<p>Jane looked over to him from her spot in the kitchen while the coffee machine was slowly filling up her mug. He was deep in thoughts and the slightly increased lines on his forehead let her know he was a little anxious, too. Carefully carrying the mug over to sit next to Chris she started to worry that he might have regrets or needed her to find another place to quarantine now. Overthinking was one of her super powers. Placing the mug on the table and pushing her anxious thoughts aside she spoke softly “Are you okay?” “Yeah. What about you?” he answered and looked at her with a sympathetic smile. Jane returned the smile bringing up a hand to gently smooth out the lines on his forehead “Great actually. Just a little worried about you. Your worry-lines deepen when you’re anxious.” she stated quietly catching Chris a little off guard as he didn’t think it was this obvious. He relaxed under her feather light touch closing his eyes for a second before opening them to meet hers again. The way she smiled at him made him want to kiss her. He huffed out a little chuckle shaking his head and admitting sheepishly “I was worried things would be awkward now. That I overstepped boundaries or something.” The German just grinned at how cute he could be. “Chris, look at me!” His eyes hesitantly found hers again and he saw her smiling widely. “You would have known already if you crossed my boundaries and unless you make things awkward we’re good here… and I meant every word of you can take your time later… if you want, of course. I wouldn’t mind.” </p>
<p>“You wouldn’t?” Chris asked surprised hardly believing this turned out to be solved so easily. The young woman chuckled and took a sip of her coffee. “Don’t get fooled by my cute face, Evans. I’m not as innocent as you probably believe and I’m by far not a saint. Although, I have to admit I didn’t necessarily consider you as dominant behind closed doors, but I like it.” She winked at him with a sly smirk. A blush crept up the man’s face and he let his head roll back with a small groan. All sorts of scenarios invaded his mind and he didn’t dare to open his eyes to look at her. Jane however watched him secretly admiring his impossibly long lashes resting against his cheeks. She leaned over placing a small kiss to the corner of his mouth and whispered “I’m gonna take a shower and get some work done.” The Bostonian again watched her delicious butt as she was on her way to her room. Then he finally finished his cup of coffee and went for his run. </p>
<p>About three hours later, the young German sat outside on a sun lounger with books scattered around, her laptop in front of her and her notepad on her lap. She started to become frustrated when it seemed impossible to get through the video lecture she was working on. A defeated groan erupted her and she let herself fall back against the lounger. “This is bullshit.” she muttered slinging an arm over her eyes. Chris who had been working on the launch of A Starting Point looked up from his own screen when he heard the sound of her slumping down. With a small grin he paused his work and got up fetching a bottle of water from the fridge and walking over to Jane. He made a little space by putting the books onto a pile before sitting down next to her. “This is ridiculous.” the young woman muttered making Chris chuckle “What’s ridiculous?” he asked while reaching over her and placing a hand on her waist. His thumb drew lazy circles into her right side where he noticed a tattoo the night before. He wanted to ask her about it, but waited patiently for her to answer his first question. With the hand of her arm not draped over her eyes gesturing into the direction of her laptop she stated “This!” Same hand came to rest on his forearm gently running up and down. “For the past hour I’ve been trying to understand this stupid operation. Management accounting is shit. It’s useless! Maybe, I should just quit.” Chris listened to her rambling until she talked about quitting and interrupted her rant. “Hey, Hey! Come on, look at me.” He said softly and paused for a second to move her arm away from her eyes. When she tried to pull it away from him to put it back over her eyes, he pinned her hand to his chest before he continued “Hey, stop. You’re an incredibly intelligent woman who I’ve had amazing conversations with. You’ve been sitting here for about three hours, you need to take a break, babe. I’m sure you can rock this once you took a moment away from your notes.” </p>
<p>The handsome man started to take the notepad from her lap placing it on top of the pile of books on the ground. Her laptop was carefully placed next to it and she grew curious with every move he made. “What are you doing?” Jane asked when he turned back to face her with a playful smile. “Giving you this bottle of water and making you take a break.” he responded handing her mentioned bottle. After she took it from him, enjoyed the cold liquid and closed her eyes again, Chris dipped a hand under her top pulling the hem up a little. His hand was incredibly close to her ticklish spot, so she addressed him in a warning tone “Chris.” He instantly pulled his hand away. “I’m sorry.” he mumbled thinking she didn’t want him to touch her right now. Her reply was a little giggle followed by “No, no. You can put your hands on me. Just stay away from my ticklish spots.” He chuckled and put his hand where it was before. Her tattoo was rather large making it impossible to see the entire work with just so much of her skin exposed. “What does that mean?” Chris asked tracing a few of the lines he saw and a delicate lettering which read “conting”. After another sip of the water he brought her she answered “It’s a short version of ‘continuing’ my best friend and I made up. When we were younger we wrote stories together and always felt shy to ask the other if they’d be up to continue the story, so at one point we just sent ‘cont?’ to ask. They were our escape from reality. We wrote about all sorts of genres and all celebrity crushes we’ve had over the years. The verb also reminds us of everything we have been through and despite all of it we’re still here. We survived each and every battle we fought rising like a phoenix from the ashes.” His curiosity was sparked, he wanted to know what things she has been through in her life. “Would you like to tell me about them?” Jane’s eyes opened meeting Chris’ when she suggested smiling “How about I tell you about them on our road-trip? We gotta pass the time somehow.”  “Alright, it’s a deal. Mind showing me the entire tattoo, though? I’d love to see it.” he shot back and before he could even process what was happening she got rid of her shorts and her top leaving her in only her thong. A muttered “Fuck” came from Chris as he hadn’t expected her to shed her clothes this quickly, especially with the fact she didn’t wear a bra or anything of that sort. “I thought you wanted to have a look at my tattoo and not stare at my boobs. Not that there was much to stare at, but still.” She rolled onto her side, so Chris could have a better look at the art work. It reached from about four inches under her armpit all the way down to her thigh. </p>
<p>“It’s beautiful. You’re beautiful.” he murmured running his finger tips over her side. His words made her blush and suddenly very self-conscious. Seeing her hesitation he added “I mean it.” which just deepened the shades of red on her cheeks. With a smile he leaned down whispering into her ear “And so fucking hot.” His low voice right in her ear left her with goosebumps all over her body. These were intensified when his hand on her waist teasingly moved over her hip to the inside of her thigh squeezing it a little and his beard scraped lightly against her soft skin just below her ear. Chris noticed her little reactions to his touch and chuckled “I can’t wait to take my sweet time with you.” He was still right in her ear sending even more shivers down her spine. When he pulled away Jane saw him grinning like a Cheshire cat. Then he got up with a wink and the words “I gotta go back to work.” before leaving her lying there. Jane was utterly shocked and a hot mess not being able to believe he would be such a tease.</p>
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<a name="section0010"><h2>10. past demons</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thanks for all the kudos! &lt;3 </p><p>Feedback is appreciated! :D</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The afternoon passed dreadingly slow for Jane. While she finally managed to understand the operation she struggled with earlier and finished a second recorded lecture, her mind was always going back to the very handsome man she was currently living with. Deciding she did enough studying for the day, she brought her stuff inside and changed into her bikini to cool down in the pool. On the way outside, her phone vibrated in her hand. <em>&gt;&gt;Heyyy x3 I’m sorry for being so quiet lately, lots of work ._. how have you been?&lt;&lt;</em> The young German felt instant relief seeing her best friend’s message and couldn’t hold back a smile. Sitting down on the edge of the pool and dangling her legs in the water, she typed out her response <em>&gt;&gt;Hey baby girl &lt;3 It’s okay x3 I’m great actually, aside from studying and work xP I miss you though&lt;&lt; &gt;&gt;Aww, I miss you, too. So, how’s Chris P. Bacon treating you?&lt;&lt;</em> Jane started laughing hard reading the nickname Mary made up for Chris. The impact of her laughter made her eyes tear up and her belly hurt within seconds. When Chris would return from taking Dodger on a walk she would totally tell him about this one. <em>&gt;&gt;You are, in fact, the worst. x’DDDD but yeah, he’s treating me very well. I’m excited to go to Sudbury with him on Sunday&lt;&lt;</em> After she hit send, she slowly slipped into the cool water and grabbed the swimming noodle she brought. Hooking it under her arms and resting her feet on the edge she floated in the late afternoon sun while lazily typing away on her phone. <em>&gt;&gt;Are you now? The last time we talked you were unsure about that. What happened that made you change your mind? Ooooh… OMG YOU TWO SKEET SKEET?!&lt;&lt;</em> Although she was a little frustrated her assumption was on point more giggles bubbled out of Jane reading Mary’s messages with those terrible words. While Mary and her shared every little detail of their life with one another, she didn’t really want to share this one, but lying wasn’t an option either. <em>&gt;&gt;Yeah… but that was after I told him I’d go. Scott talked to me, this is how I changed my mind. He made me understand that I’m not just a temporary friend for them.&lt;&lt; &gt;&gt;Oh boi, you had sex with America’s Ass ;D I wondered when the nun-spell would break, but I didn’t see this one coming&lt;&lt;</em> Jane groaned and moved for a second to put her earbuds in and call Mary. Once, the call connected the young German slightly grumbled “Please, just drop it.” “Oh, come on, you know I’m not judging you. In fact, I’m glad you got to break this circle of abstinence. Stop feeling bad for things you’ve done in the past. You’re not that Jane anymore and no one is slut-shaming you. Did you make the move? How was it?” Several seconds passed as Jane tried to decide whether she would get into detail or not. Of course, she trusted Mary with her life and knew the younger woman wouldn’t spill anything to anyone, but Jane tried to keep her own expectations as low as possible. “No, he suddenly kissed me when we played a round of Never have I ever, and things escalated really quickly. To be honest... it was amazing.” Mary seemed way too excited for her normal standards “So, are you two gonna do it again?” “Geez, what the fuck is wrong with you? Well... this option is at least open.” “Yeeeaaaah boiii.” “You really gotta stop saying that.”</p><p>They continued talking until Jane had an incoming call from Jake. “Hey baby girl, I got another call. I’ll text you later, okay?” “Oki, stay safe!” Mary spoke before the German went to pick up Jake’s call. “Meow. What’s up?” She cheerfully greeted him sitting on the edge of the pool. “Hey Jane, actually, this is about work. I know I usually don’t do business calls at this time without asking you first, but it’s kind of urgent.” he explained barely leaving Jane a moment to respond before he continued. “So, there’s this inquiry from somebody in Canada and they specifically want you to work on it.” “Okay, what is it?” “They are looking for a project manager, who keeps an overview of finances and structures the workflow. As you are still in L.A. I thought you could meet to discuss details – with safety distance and everything, of course. I know you could totally rock this yourself, but it’s kinda strange they asked specifically for you. Do you know somebody called Kyle Walsh?” That name made her shudder every time someone mentioned it. The tone of her voice was suddenly very defensive, “I’m sorry, I can’t take this job.” Jake immediately picked up on it and considered his following words carefully. “That’s okay. Would you mind telling me how you know him?” His question caused silence on the other end worrying him. “Jane?” “Sorry, I can’t right now. Gotta go.”, and with that she hung up leaving her coworker confused and worried about her. He knew he couldn’t do much being at the other end of the city, so he sent Chris a text to make sure she was alright. <em>&gt;&gt;Hey man, could you check on Jane, please? I just called her and something I said made her really upset. I’m really worried about her.&lt;&lt;</em></p><p>The Bostonian was about ten minutes away from home when he received the text. <em>&gt;&gt;Sure. Will be home in 10 minutes. Took Dodger for a walk.&lt;&lt;</em> He eventually got home within 7 minutes after walking a little faster. Halfway home, the pup started to grow nervous pulling a lot more on the leash then he usually would. As soon as Chris unlocked the door Dodger raced inside. This was the moment a little bit of worry also started to wash over him. With quick steps he made his way through the house, scanning the backyard, but not seeing her anywhere. “Jane?” he called through the house, but got no response. His pup came running back making whiny sounds seemingly trying to make him follow. “Where’s she, bubba?” he asked and the cute mutt just barked running off again. Chris followed him to Jane’s room where he found the young woman sitting with her back towards him among her stuff hurrying to put it into her suitcases and bags. “Jane, what happened? What’s wrong?” He spoke softly and took careful steps towards her. “Please, talk to me.” He tried again without success. When he gently put a hand on her shoulder to get her attention she jumped and basically scrambled away from him. Her face was stained with tears, her eyes bloodshot and her breathing was strikingly increased. It pained him to see her like this and his eyes also started to well up with tears, but he didn’t want to scare her off even more. He sat down close to her while leaning against her bed and making sure she didn’t feel cornered. “I gotta go.” she answered with a shaky voice, before she hurried to throw even more things into her suitcase. These three words started to fall from her lips over and over again and she didn’t hear any of his words said in between. Instead, her panic worsened until she was barely able to take a breath before speaking.</p><p>Chris knew an anxiety attack when he saw one and she was spiralling into a total melt-down. He gently grabbed her arm attempting to pull her towards him, but she pulled away. When he grabbed her arm a little harder and pulled her against him, she started to put up a fight, trying to escape his grip. “Let go!” she screamed punching and slapping his arms and chest. He took every blow without flinching until she was pressed against his chest. “Babe, shhhhh.” he hushed her and she slowly stopped to fight back. Chris just held her with his arms wrapped safely around her body while she clung onto his shirt crying her eyes out and Dodger snuggled against their side. Resting his head on top of hers several minutes passed before her sobs stopped, but her grip didn’t lessen. “I’m sorry.” a barely audible whisper came from her. “No, it’s okay. I’ve got you.” he whispered back, rubbing her back gently. Hesitantly, Jane pulled away a little, her finger tips touching the wet patches her tears left on Chris’ shirt. He brought a hand to her cheek wiping away the last tears with his thumb. Her eyes met his and her hand came to rest on his cheek when she saw them slightly red. “You cried.” she noted quietly a silent questioning in her eyes. A little chuckle rumbled in Chris’ chest before he spoke, “Yeah, I did.” He paused searching her eyes for answers to questions he hadn’t asked yet. “What happened? How can I help you?” Her eyes averted at his questions, her attention going back to the slowly drying patches on his shirt. “Babe, I promise, I’m not gonna judge you.” he tried again, but didn’t push her. Eventually Jane found her courage to explain what happened, “My ex-boyfriend. Apparently, he found me through my job, at least, Jake told me he asked specifically for me in an inquiry. It’s been years, but he is like a parasite. After I broke up he kept stalking me until I changed everything - numbers, my email address, deleted my social media accounts. I also moved, because I didn’t feel safe, although - as far as I know - he was and still is in Vancouver, Canada.” In between he listened carefully and started peppering her forehead with gentle kisses. He started to get an idea when Jake warned him to not scare her away and with this dawning realization anger started to rise inside him. Anger that some asshole would hurt not only her in particular, but a woman in general. Chris pushed his anger aside, still holding her in his arms, “You’re safe with us.” “Am I?”, the young woman couldn’t help but question this as she didn’t get much support before. “Yes. Dodger and I won’t let anyone hurt you.” Her heart skipped a beat at this and she snuggled further into his arms. “Thank you.” “Anytime.”</p><p>Jane finally pulled away from the handsome man who held her for probably over an hour. She was also surprised how dark it already was in her room. “Would it be okay, if I stayed the night with you?” Her question caused him to smile, “Absolutely! If it helps you, you can stay every night until we go on our adventure, which will be in four days.” It was her turn to smile at him. “Oh, look at this beautiful smile.” he said playfully and softly kissed her lips. Jane giggled into the kiss already feeling better with Chris around. “I guess, I’ll go and get ready for bed now.” she announced slowly getting up from his lap. “You can do that downstairs if you want.” Jane was a little confused by his offer, “You mean as in I’ll just carry my stuff over to your room?” “Yeah? I wouldn’t mind and you wouldn’t have to walk through the entire house if you forgot something.” He definitely had a point and this way she could also take care of cleaning up without her stuff standing in her way. Chris got up and stuffed his hands into his jeans while waiting for her decision. She gave it another thought looking around the room and then at Chris who watched her with a tiny grin. “Yeah, okay, but only if you’re okay with this.” “Of course, beautiful. Otherwise I wouldn’t have offered.” He took two steps towards the young woman in front of him, standing only a couple inches away from her. His arms wrapped around her middle as they looked into each other's eyes and Jane started to feel tingly again like she did the night before when he kissed her the first time. Bringing his forehead to her’s they enjoyed having the other so close. Chris felt his crush on her growing bigger and a tiny voice in the far back of his mind wondered if it was such a good idea to have her this close. But could it really be bad, if it felt this amazing to be close to her?</p>
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<a name="section0011"><h2>11. before we leave</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hey my dear readers,</p><p>I'm so sorry for the delay. Life and anxiety are a little crazy lately and I couldn't bring myself to be productive in any way.</p><p>This chapter is a weird mixture of fluff and smut. You were warned :P</p><p>Sorry for the typos!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Come on, let’s get you settled downstairs.” Chris announced with a kiss to her forehead. Dodger, who was still sitting next to them, yelped happily and took a pair of Jane’s socks before walking ahead. “Apparently Dodger agrees with you.” Jane giggled and threw a few last things into her suitcase and zipped it close. Together they brought her things to Chris’ room when Jane wondered “Chris, how did you know I wasn’t feeling this good?” When he carefully kicked his bedroom door open he replied, “Jake asked me to check on you.” “Oh.” “Well, if he hadn’t, Dodger definitely would have made me. Just before we got home he became quite nervous.” Chris explained and placed her suitcase on the stool near the window. Jane placed her backpack next to it and started to collect the things she needed to get ready for bed. With her arms full of stuff she turned around and looked at the handsome man who watched her. She gave him a small smile which he returned immediately before asking her “Do you need anything else? I could make you tea or something.” “Tea sounds good. Perhaps we could watch a movie and cuddle when I’m done?” Jane asked with an innocent smile. “Of course, beautiful.” he said and left the room to give her some space. </p><p>The young German walked into the bathroom where she dropped her oversized pajama t-shirt to the floor and placed her facial cleanser, exfoliation, toothbrush, toothpaste and dental floss, shampoo, conditioner and shower gel onto the counter top. After organizing her things and finding places for them she decided to take a shower. Putting her locks into a bun and shedding her clothes she stepped into it. As soon as the water hit her skin she felt relief as if it was washing away her fears. Nevertheless, her mind was trying to figure out how her ex found her and just when she stepped out wrapping a towel around her body she remembered she was listed on the company’s website as Jake’s assistant. Jane quickly dried off herself and threw her pajama t-shirt on. Back in the bedroom she grabbed a pair of shorts pulling them on before taking her fluffy blanket out of her bag.</p><p>Meanwhile, Chris was in the kitchen preparing a cup of tea and texted Jake <em>&gt;&gt;She’s okay. I’m sure she will message you soon.&lt;&lt;</em> Just when he poured the hot water into the mug he received a reply <em>&gt;&gt;Thanks for letting me know. I was really worried&lt;&lt;</em> He started typing back <em>&gt;&gt;No problem. Talk to you soon&lt;&lt;</em> when two arms suddenly wrapped around him from behind and slightly jumped. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.” she murmured against his back. “It’s okay. Are you feeling better?” he asked while turning around to face her. His arms wrapped around her middle and the divine scent of her body wash filled his nose. She just nodded her head and leaned in to rest her head against his shoulder. For a moment he just held her, his hands gently rubbing her back before she pulled away. Chris turned to take the steaming mug and hand it to her “Here’s your tea.” Jane whispered “Thank you.” and carefully took the mug into her hands walking over to the sofa where Dodger was snoozing. “Hey cutie.” the young German spoke softly while placing the cup on the coffee table and sitting down in the middle of the sofa next to the pup. Other than his tail wagging he didn’t move a muscle when she scratched him behind his ears. </p><p>“What movie would you like to watch?” Chris asked her sitting down next to her. She pondered for a moment mindlessly running her fingers through Dodger’s fluff. “I can’t decide between ‘The lake house’ and ‘13 going on 30’. Don’t judge, please. I’m in desperate need for a chick flick.” Jane answered and leaned against Chris’ shoulder while he navigated through the movies to look for either of the ones mentioned. Once he found The lake house and pressed play they moved into a comfortable position where he pulled her against his chest and Dodger slept in between her legs with his head resting on her hip. The fluffy blanket Jane put on the backrest on the way to the kitchen came to rest on her torso as Chris gently put it on her. His considerate nature made her heart flutter and she whispered a “Thank you.” Instead of audibly responding he placed a kiss on top of her head while she snuggled deeper into his chest and the blanket. </p><p>Halfway through the movie the young woman fell asleep. The anxiety attack earlier had drained the last bit of energy she had left after studying all day. While she seemed all comfortable and unbothered Chris’ back started to hurt a little with the armrest poking into his shoulder. With gentle rubs on her tummy he whispered “Beautiful. Movie’s over. Let’s get you to bed.” She slowly stirred awake, stretching a little and turning her head to be able to look at Chris. In her sleepy eyes it was evident she didn’t comprehend what he said, making him smile softly “Let’s go to bed.” he repeated quietly. “But the movie.” He couldn’t help but chuckle at her little objection. “You slept through it, sweetheart.” Her only response was a quiet  “Oh.” He thought she was incredibly cute being all sleepy. Finally, she sat up making room for the handsome man to stretch as well. Jane brought her mug back into the kitchen and Chris called Dodger announcing it was bedtime. The mutt grabbed his stuffed lion and went ahead waiting in the hallway to see if his dad was following him. They both got ready for bed and went to lie down. With Dodger already snoozing at their feet Chris wanted to light up the mood a little more, but he would never admit he also asked out of curiosity “Now is not a good moment to take my time with you, is it?” “Oh God, Chris!” Jane giggled and turned to snuggle against his warm body “Not really, unless you have a kink that includes the other one to be asleep. I’m really tired.” she added and put her head to his chest listening to his heartbeat. He chuckled “I was joking.” When she came back with a sleepy yet sarcastic “Yeah, right” he was almost laughing, but blushed furiously. This woman would be his death. He didn’t see her smirk as it was dark already, but he was sure he succeeded at lighting up the mood even though she picked up on his bullshit. After a moment of silence as he was lost in thoughts he placed a gentle kiss to her head and whispered “Good night, beautiful.” Jane, however, was already asleep in his arms. </p>
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The following days passed rather quickly. Chris took care of his work, doing interviews and zoom calls with Mark to discuss a few more things for ASP, while Jane - as always - balanced between studying and working. Otherwise they fell into a comfortable routine sharing physical affections throughout the day. Their shared breaks consisted of having meals together and sometimes heavily making out. The latter was always interrupted by somebody calling. It was almost like there were hidden cameras and people took turns interrupting them before things got too hot. </p><p>This morning however Jane decided she would break this spell. She had gotten up before Chris, which was unusual as he often struggled to sleep in or Dodger wanting his breakfast. First she tiptoed into the bathroom followed by the pooch - so much for privacy - and afterwards let mentioned cutie out so he could roam the back yard. When she returned to the bedroom she was greeted with the sight of the Hollywood hottie sleeping with a white sheet barely covering his boxers clad hips being sprawled out on the bed. A sly smirk spread across her face and she carefully crawled back onto the bed. Slowly she pulled the sheet off him, her grin growing wider. The past days she always thought about giving that man a blowjob. She actually loved going down. Receiving oral was also nice, but she simply loved pleasuring her partner. Chris didn’t stir, his breathing was still deep and even indicating he was still sound asleep. With her pointer she started to trace the tattoos on his clavicles, the pad of her finger gently running over his skin. </p><p>Jane admired his tattoos and the feeling of his skin under her hand. As she was deep in her thoughts she didn’t notice when Chris finally started to wake up. He watched her for a moment before the need to stretch became too much. Her eyes snapped to his when his body was suddenly moving, but her surprised face was quickly replaced with a soft smile. “Morning” Chris said, his voice still deep and groggy. She swung a leg over his narrow hips so she ended up straddling him. Her sudden movement surprised him and he looked at her with questioning eyes. Jane leaned down, hovering an inch above his lips. “Good morning, handsome.” she whispered and gave him a kiss. Chris was a little disappointed it was really just one. He loved her lips on his. From the corner of her eye she saw his little pout, making her giggle and whisper into his ear “I’m not done with you, yet.” Instantly shivers ran down his spine and he was surprised to see her so demanding. Jane placed a few kisses onto his neck, moving down to his chest. As her lips moved further down his tummy her hands roamed whatever part of his body they could reach. She sat up for a moment to slide further down grinning up at him “I’m really sorry, but I’m not gonna risk being interrupted again.” Her fingers hooked into the waistband of his boxers pulling them down his legs. </p><p>Chris’ sleepy mind was only slowly processing what was about to happen. When her hand wrapped around his cock he inhaled sharply and breathed “Babe.” “I’ve been wanting to do this the past few days. Every time we made out and I felt your hard on pressing into me all I wanted to do was suck you off, hear your moans and taste your cum.” she admitted, slowly jerking him off. Her words turned him on even more, making his cock twitch in her hand. Just a second later she licked a broad stripe from the base to the tip, licking off some pre cum before wrapping her lips around him. Chris’ mouth fell open, a slow moan rolling off his lips. It was like music to her ears and she sucked a little harder. He couldn’t help himself and pushed a hand into her locks gently pushing her further down. When she didn’t seem to mind and rather tried to take him as deep as possible he almost lost it. “Fuck, you’re so hot.” he moaned, bucking his hips. She kept sucking eagerly on his length, varying in speed and intensity. Her free hand was all over him, feeling his muscles, his hair and the light sheen of sweat that appeared on his chest. Chris saw her looking up at him through her lashes. He loved the sparkle in her eyes while her pretty little mouth was wrapped around his cock. He never wanted this moment to end. </p><p>Jane felt him getting closer and closer to his release spurring her on even more to make him cum. She felt him gripping her hair tighter and she dug the fingers of her free hand into his hips while the other was tightly wrapped around the base of his throbbing cock. Her low hums brought him closer to the edge. “Babe, hold on. You gonna make me cum.” he breathed trying to hold himself together, but she didn’t let go of him. Instead she watched him, her eyes seemingly seducing him into cumming into her mouth. With a large variety of curse words he still tried to hold on and enjoy her amazing blowjob skills a little longer, but she was better and had him tumble over the edge with a pornographic moan and a huge load of cum flooding into her mouth. She actually had to swallow twice to make sure nothing would spill. When he was completely drained she released him with a grin of a Cheshire cat. Chris looked at her with hooded eyes, his breathing still labored. He was at loss for words. It had been a while since he came this hard and it had been even longer someone passionately sucked him off AND swallowed. “Would you like some coffee before we leave for our little road trip to the east coast?” she asked innocently as if nothing happened and licked her lips one last time. With a small, but satisfied grin he answered “Yes, please.”</p>
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